Good week and God is good always, always God is good

This past week was a good one. On Monday we had Zone Pday and we had it at our building. We set up our volleyball net and then we set up a mini golf course in the church with all kinds of stuff we did 6 holes it was a blast. We played volleyball for a couple of hours and then people mini golfed and played a card game called Bang and it was just lots of fun! And then we had an FHE like we usually do at a member's home and that went well! and ya it was a great day. 

Then the rest of the weeks highlights! Tuesday was the first full day of just proselyting  with no calls or meetings and it was great it had been a while. That is one of the things I miss about being a regular missionary is not having a lot time to spend a full day proselyting in your own area. I do my best to make sure we spend as much time as we can, but I do miss being a regular missionary, but I am doing what the Lord needs me do when he needs me to do it and this is what he needs me to do right now! 

On Wednesday we went to the Fairbault area and went to their district meeting and then we exchanged with those Elders and it was good. We have a good relationship with them. It was a good exchange and we had all kinds of stuff to do the next day. We had our district meeting and then we went and did service at the Food Shelf from 12 to 4:30 and it was super busy, but it was good. It was fun and a member took us to Pizza Ranch which is always good. That is something I will miss about Minnesota for sure when I leave because it is awesome! Ya and then we had a lesson that night! The rest of the week was good we had some good lessons. Peter Tut came out to see someone with us and he almost got hit by a car crossing the street so that was scary, but he didn't so ya. Someone in the ward passed away so that was sad, but it is all in the plan! We got a referral from somebody and it was good to get one. 

Then on Sunday Roberto and his "wife" came to church again so that was awesome. He has been coming consistently so it is great to have him there! Ya it was good. Sunday we watched this video in Gospel Principles we watched this video called "I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go" it is a music video, but it was way good. It is just people doing member missionary work and it made me realize missionary work is so simple on both sides and the Lord knows that. That is what he says in Alma 37:6-7: 
                    6 Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto                            you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and                         small means in many instances doth confound the wise.
                    7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal                         purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and                             bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

So as we can see from the scripture by small and simple things great things are brought to pass. Then this morning I was studying and preparing my training for our district meeting this week and it hit me. We all just need to go back to the basic and simple things and then the Lord will bring about the salvation of many souls. Missionaries often complicate the work and members as well, but if we all just do the simple things it will all come together and the church will grow. One of my favorite things to share with members at dinner appts. is the video "Hope of God's Light" because it really shows how the simple and basic things bring about conversion. I mean just not being afraid to talk about the Gospel in public with friends and then answer questions when asked! Then simply follow the spirit like his friend did, who I am sure was praying for an opportunity to do some missionary work, BASIC! Then just a simple invite to a Ward party and a simple prayer that changed that man's life and everything clicked! It is so easy, but we make it so complicated. We need to realize that if we do the basic things the rest will come and God will bless us. So I am working on that. One thing I am going to do that is by studying the Book or Mormon and Preach My Gospel to study the basic simple doctrines that people need to hear and continue praying to be guided by the spirit. I would encourage you all to do the same! We will help this work go forward and the Lord will bless us as we do the simple things and then great things will come to pass! 

Have a blessed week and a great Thanksgiving. I am grateful for all the support you all give me and you have helped me grow in my life I am also very grateful for this opportunity I have to serve my Lord, my God that I love. I am doing all that I can to fulfill his will for me in this area. I love you all that is all till next week. 

love,
Elder Howe 

Week of Uplifting Meetings

So this week was a good week. We had a good pday. Nothing too out of the norm. Did everything we needed to do. Then Tuesday we had MLC in Bloomington and it was great as usual we talked a lot about how we can be better leaders and how we can do better at being the example area and helping our zones be the best they can be! And then we talked about loving the unlovable missionary or the hard to love ones and it was really good. I have learned that if you pray for charity you will be blessed with charity. There have been many times that I have been on my knees in the bathroom for the Lord to help me love my comp and understand him and it worked! I love the Lord he is so great he blesses us with so much and he is just waiting to bless us with more if we just ask, but we need to ask. If you are ever not getting along with someone just take it to the Lord and ask him to help you understand him and help you have more charity towards them and you will be blessed, if you have real intent, but ya it was a great meeting and then we blitzed some elders area and that was good.

Then the next day we had a zone training and it was good we talked about the new Christmas video that will be coming out. It looks like it will be great so that is good and then me and Elder Hurst gave a training on how to make effective back up plans and it went well I think we made a pretty sweet slide show and it went really well. I love giving trainings now so it is good. We also talked alot about being on time and about the doctrine of the family and why it is important and how to answer questions about the new policy change. It was a really good training. After that we went out for lunch in Minneapolis with some other elders to eat some Pho a vietnamese soup I had one that has tripe in it and it was good tripe is super chewy but it was way good. Then we went with some other Zone Leaders in the same stake as us until we our Stake meeting that we had that night with the Stake President and the High Councilor  over missionary work and it was a good meeting. It started to pour rain hard! Like super bad so it was a slower trip home, but it was a good couple days in the cites. 

Highlights from the rest of the week. We did service at a Food Shelf and that was fun we did a ton of moving piles from one spot to another so that was good! And then we exchanged with some elders and Friday was full of planning and stuff and we made biscuits and gravy again it was great. Saturday we had a Ward service project where we went around and were assigned houses to rake and it was really good contact with the
community so it was good! And on Sunday we went by a potential investigator and taught her and we got a new investigator which is good it was a while since we had found one from tracting so that was good! It was a good week.

At our Stake conference the Stake President was talking about how he hadn't missed a day of reading his scriptures in 38 years and that amazed and inspired me so that is my goal now to never miss a day of reading my scriptures for the rest of my life. So I am excited for that and it will really help me to become a better person and it will be great. I have been really studying the Book of Mormon and I have started reading it again and I go over one chapter a day and I gain so much from each chapter I am reading the Isaiah chapters and I am finally understanding it better because I really look into the verse and pray for the Spirit to help me understand and focus and it really happens. It is amazing I love
studying the Book of Mormon. I love that book it makes me happy every time I can read it and I have really come to appreciate it and just know that the book is true and that by reading the book we can become the closest to God that we can in this life. I love this Gospel! I know that it is true and that as we live the Gospel we will be happy. I love being a missionary. I have less than one year left and it is going fast. I am trying to make the most of every moment and work as hard as I can for the Lord. I hope we all try to look for ways we can share the Gospel with people. Pray and ask the Lord to give you one missionary experience everyday and he will give one to you if you want to have it
and he will help you become a great member missionary and it will be great. I hope that everybody has a great week and that we all have great missionary experiences.

Well that is all till next week
Love
Elder Howe
Sent from my iPad

Stress happens but God is great!

So the highlights from my week we had Institute on Tuesday and that was good. That night we drove to a city in our zone to be with some missionaries and so we got there that night and spent the night with them and it was good we were training one elder about being a district leader and then we went to their district meeting and that was good. Then Wednesday night we went and played basketball and my comp sprained his ankle so that was no good. Then Thursday we had service, but we cancelled it so he could rest his ankle so we did some paperwork stuff and calls and then some elders got their car taken away and one of them didn't have a bike and since my comp is going home we drove out
there to bring him his bike so he could bike around. So that went ok, but ya then we came back and he was icing his ankle and then we a had a good dinner. 

Friday the assistants came down and blitzed our area and that was good we had a lot of success that day. We got a lot done we taught a lot of people. It was great and on Saturday we went and helped a member's friend move and I got hair all over me so that
was no good, but it was good interactions and then we had calls and lots of stuff and planning and it was a good day. Sunday was good we got some more stuff done and did some teaching! 

This week my ponderize scripture was Alma 26:12 and it is about how the Lord can help us if we are humble and I was pondering, praying, and reading and I was chastened by the Lord for not being healthy. Being chastened by the Lord is a great thing. Then I was reading my scripture again and realized that the Lord will help me with that if I am humble and do all I can do and ask him for strength to help me accomplish the goals
I set. It is an amazing thing. The Lord is willing to do so much to help us so that we can become the best we can and so that we can become what he wants us to be, but we have to be humble and willing to accept his council on how we can better become more like him. To be chastened by the Lord is a great blessing. I never thought that I would think or
say that, but is an amazing thing how the Lord can change us and help us to become better! Let us all strive to be the best we can through the help of the Lord!

Sorry if this isn't the best letter. I was on my iPad, but I hope all is well
Till next week
Love
Elder Howe

Miracles and Revelation! and Luke 22:32

So This week was an OK week. Some good things happened! This letter is going to be a little different then my usual letters I will at first talk about a few things that have happened this week. We did service for our investigator Roberto and we helped him rake leaves and move a ton of stuff around and it was good because then he came to church again on Sunday he is planning on coming every Sunday. Service softens hearts and it is amazing what service can do! I have an amazing testimony of service now. It is amazing what happens when you just take the time to serve somebody. But ya that was fantastic! This week we started to do service at a local Food Shelf for a couple hours on Thursday so we did that this week and it was good! We bagged like about 50 bushels of apples so that was a lot apples, but they like us because we got it all done so that is good! 

That night we had a miracle filled night we had stuff fall though and then 2 people popped into my head and we tired to see them and got contact with a former investigator and got his new number and then right after that we got in contact with a less active lady who hasn't had a ton of contact so that was great and then after that we still had an hour left and I felt like we should go and see this less active I had never met so we drove there and when we finally found his apartment, we knock and then this guy answers  and it turns out to be someone my comp contacted on campus like at the beginning of the month and he has just recently had some really spiritual experiences and converted to Christianity and he seems super prepared. He is awesome. His name is Fabrice he is African but it was a miracle to find him where a less active used to live so that was awesome!  He is coming to institute with us this week so that is great! It was awesome. 

On Friday we had the ward party, but those were the highlights of the week.  Oh ya and a member gave us 30 pounds of popcorn seeds so we have a plenty of that! I have a pic, but any ways now i want to talk about the scripture I put in the title Luke 22:32 which just took on such great meaning to me this week as I was reflecting and thinking about some stuff so as i was PONDERING things so that Scripture says:

32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

So earlier in my mission I knew I had to be obedient and that it was important, but I would break super small things every now and again and think it didn't matter and then after I got transferred from Andover to Farmington I was with my comp Elder Freestone and he was exactly obedient and I realized the importance of it and I repented and since then it has been my mission to be as obedient as I possibly can I have studied the White hand book in my personal study through multiple times looking for ways I can improve so that the Lord can bless me and my area more and after I got away from Elder Freestone I have had companion after companion who have not thought as highly of 100% exact obedience and I was having some trials it has been by far been the hardest period of my mission, but I have gotten through it with faith and trust in the Lord and through lots of prayer, but I was a little down this week and I was pondering why I was having these trials and I know that trails are meant to help us grow and then that scripture came to me and I realized God is rooting for me and doesn't want me to lose faith in exact obedience even though it is hard sometimes and then I realized that God had been giving me these comps I have had because I am converted to that principle and so because I am converted I must convert my brethren and I have seen that not just in my companionship but as a leader I have had many opportunities to work with elders and help them realize the importance of being exactly obedient it is amazing what the Lord can do for us. He truly does love us all I wasn't planning on writing about this, but as i started to write i just felt like I should! but i think that that scripture applies to us all in many ways. We are all converted so we have to help convert our friends and God is rooting for us to do that. He prays that our faith fails not. This scripture has brought me much comfort this week and it makes my testimony that God has a plan and a reason for everything that happens even our trials and every one that we come in to contact with I am so grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to help others as I have already been helped I love this work I love the Lord and I am grateful he trust me enough to do his work because I mess up a lot, but I know I can become clean of the mistakes though the atonement. I hope everyone can find some way this week to convert their brethren it doesn't even have to be a non member it can be a member everyone is on the path of conversion! I love the way this Gospel works. Well I think that is all for this week well as Moroni says his last words:

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God.
 33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.
34 And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.

till next week God bless 
love you all 
Elder Howe 

Pretty average week full of exchanges and stuff

This week was just an OK week on Monday we had zone pday, but two of our teams didn't show up so that was a little lame. We still had fun. We went bowling and then did some sports it was a good day just hanging out and doing stuff. It was fun. The rest of that night we did some stop bys and went to a member's house and he changed some people's addresses for us so we could fix up the ward directory because it is way messed up. 

Tuesday we had District Meeting and it went well and then we had lunch and we made these things called masubis. It is a Samoan dish. It is seaweed wrapped rice and spam fired in soy sauce. It is really good. Ya we made it for us and the sisters. I have some videos to send of that. Ya it was good. Then we went and tried to see some people and we went tracting, but none answered. Then we had an appt with our investigator Stephanie on campus at the Student Union and it went well. She has some real potential. She really opened up this time I have high hopes for her our teaching pool has some really good potential right now I feel we should have some baptisms soon! Then we went around campus and tried to contact people. Then we had dinner with a family in the ward the Cosper family, I do not know if there is any relation to mom at all, but they are from Utah. They are a super cool family. It was good to eat with them. That was the first time and it was great! After them we went back to campus to go to Institute and it was super good as it always is! Then after that we had an apt with a less active man who is crazy. So that was an interesting appt he has a lot of weird ideas, but any who it was good day spent pretty much all on campus so that was good! 

On Wednesday in the morning we went and had to put some reports together for our Stake meeting and then we took off to do an exchange in New Prague and so we drove down there and they were on bikes this week so I went around with the Elder I was with on bikes. So I biked around all of that town and it was not bad. It is pretty flat especially  compared to here! but ya it was good. Then that evening we had to call into our Stake meeting which was a little frustrating because they kinda forgot we were there and so we didn't get a lot of time to talk about what we wanted to talk about, but next time it will be better. We will Skype in so they will see our faces and it will be better! Any ways after that we went and ate dinner at Subway and then we went to the church with them and we taught a family there who is all recent converts and that was good. I know that family well it hit me how long I have been in this Stake because I know everyone in that branch and I have never even served there so ya I have been in this Stake for a little bit! but it was good! 

The next day we went to that team's district meeting and it was OK. Some elders were super late, but it still went well and after that we went on exchanges with the elders in the town called Fairbualt and it was good. I had been on an exchange with this elder a couple of times so we get along, but it went well. They have a good Ward they serve in! The members there are super awesome and really help those elders out! Then the next morning we had a bunch of calls and that was good. During our calls with the sisters another team from a different zone called us and said there was a guy in the sisters part of our ward who wants to get baptized on Nov 7 so that was a cool miracle they will have a baptism now. He sounds solid it is super sudden so we will see how that goes but that was cool miracle! Then we headed home finally and my comp wasn't feeling too well so we slept for a bit and then we did our weekly planning and then we went out and saw some people and had an appt with a less active man and it went ok with him he has lock jaw so that was no good. He is not really progressing right now. We are trying, but he does not have a huge desire to move forward. It was a  good day! 

On Saturday we went to our coordination meeting up in a city called St Peter just north of us at our WML's house and so that worked out. It was a good meeting and then we went to change and we went to a widow's house and we did some service for her and we helped her get her yard ready for winter chopping stuff down so it will regrow next year and stuff like that! It was good. Then we went to the church to do some paper work and we set up all the chairs in the over flow for church on Sunday and then we went out and did a ton of stop bys with not a ton of success, but we saw a few people. Then we had dinner at a YSA's house and he made us biscuits and gravy and that was super good! because I love biscuits and gravy and it was super good. Then he went with us to an appt with one of our investigators and it was an OK lesson we watched a talk form conference and he is doing the same as usual. Then we went to Peter's again and he is doing good we talked about the Book of Mormon and we got his birthday so we could get his records and so that is good! 

On Sunday we had church and it was good no one came, but it was good Sunday lots of good lessons and it was the primary program so that was good. After church there was a baptism for an 8 year old in the ward and we went to that and it was super good as baptisms usually are. This kid's parent aren't members, but his grandma is so it is cool he is getting baptized. Then we went and ate lunch and we had an appt with an older lady we meet with every Sunday afternoon and it was good I don't know why she doesn't come to church we are trying so we will see how it goes! Then we had dinner with the Craguns, Brother Jensen's sister, and it was good they are a good family. It is always good to have dinner there. Then we went and did some more stop bys and we went and saw Peter again because he said that he needed help with something and so we helped him learn English. and then we went and collected numbers at the church and then went home and went to bed. 

Today we found out about transfers and nothing is changing for me which is surprising. My comp goes home in Dec so this is his last transfer so we will see how it all goes, but another transfer has come and gone and it is going by quickly I have less than a year left now. It will be an interesting next 10 months. well that is all till next time hope everybody has a great week. 
love 
Elder Howe 

Finally a good full week in our area with success

This week was a pretty good week on p-day it was a pretty normal day we did all of our usual stuff and then just kinda wandered around Mankato and checking stuff out and ya. Then had a dinner with the members we have dinner with every Monday and he served his mission in Mexico and he made some Mexican food for us and he made green spaghetti and it was different but it was really good and then we had a lesson with a family that the wife is a recent convert and their next step is the temple and so we are trying to help them get there so that was a good lesson. That ended that day.

Tuesday we helped this family move in the morning they have been a little less active, but they are moving to Rochester and so hopefully that will be good for them and ya we helped them out and then they took us out to lunch and that was good! but it was to a buffet so just too much food, but it was nice of them. Then we went around and tried to see a bunch of people. We tried to find this one house and we couldn't find in this part of town and it went down this super small dirt road and we didn't go down it so that was too bad. Then we went back home and changed to service and and went to help these members move a freezer to another  member's house and then we helped move his stuff into his kitchen because he had been remodeling. They haven't had a kitchen for 2 months I couldn't imagine. It would be rough, but now they are finally done so they have a kitchen again! Then we ate dinner with them and went to institute and it was super good as always. I learn so much and it is just a good time to get good connections with people in the ward! 

Wednesday was a good day. In the morning we had district meeting and I was in charge of this one and it went well, I think, but we always have to have a member come with us because we don't have rule of 3 so it is a little bit of a pain, but it was good. Then we ate lunch outside because we had no rule of 3. Then we stayed at the church and started to do some planning and calls we had to make then we went out and about in north mankato and tried to see a bunch of people and not to much success. We talked to the lady we prayed to try and find and she was making dinner so we have to come another time so we will do that and then we went back to the church and had dinner and then we were teaching the youth about how to teach the Book of Mormon because they are having a missionary week this week and it went super well. I did a role play in fornt of them and then they evaluated me and man they tore me apart and one kid told me to go back to the MTC, but it was a joke. It was a good time, super spiritual super good. I loved doing that and then we played basketball and that was fun as well!

Thursday was a good day. In the morning we had some more calls to make and we did that and then we went out and tried to see people and we went to McDonalds to get some wifi and I bought an ice cream cone and then my comp did after me and then the cashier lady was like, "Are you Momron?" and it turns out she was baptized up in the cites and she just moved down here so we got her the church address and gave her our number so hopefully we can get her to church, but that was a mini miracle. Then we had some more stop bys and then we had an appt on campus with a girl we contacted and when we texted her she told us she wanted to interview us for a research paper she was doing on ignorance of religions, but when we got there she just basically wanted us to teach her and so it went really well I got a really good feeling about her. She seems to be someone who will really look for the truth in things. We have an appt with her tomorrow so I am excited for that. Then we went off to a dinner at a part member's house the husband isn't to interested, but it was a good dinner! and then we went to a member's house and talked about a lesson we had planned with a investigator at their house the next day and then we went to the church to do some stuff and then we had an appt with a less active guy in the ward and it went ok. He is really not progressing super well, but he has potential. 

Friday was a great day! In the morning we had some accounting calls and then we went to the Church and we had some more paper work to do for transfers which is coming up and then we got picked up to go and split some more wood at the member's house we split wood at last week and he fed us lunch and it was good we almost got it done! Then we came home and showered and we went to dinner with a new guy in the ward who is still waiting for his family to arrive and it went well. Then we had an FHE with a family and two of our investigators and we watched the Restoration video and invited them to be baptized and they said they would if they came to know wit is true. They are super awesome then we played games and it was super fun and really good! We went home and it was a super good.

Then Saturday we had our coordination meeting and then this Monday is zone pday so we had a bunch stuff to get ready and then we went to dinner with a family and the rest of that night we did stop by and we saw Peter and he was telling us stories from when he lived in Africa and he said that he killed and elephant with some other people with a spear because they were destroying their huts and he also killed a rhino and these crocodiles so those were some awesome stories and that was good. 

Sunday was a good day at church we had sat down and no one was there. None of our investigators were there. Then 5 minutes late our investigators Roberto and his wife walked in and that was awesome that he was able to make it because we weren't able to meet with him that week! So that was awesome and then church was super good. Then we had lunch and had to do weekly planning and we had dinner and then we went and tried to see some people and we got an appt with a less active so that was good and then we saw Roberto and it was a good lesson and then we had to go to the church and do numbers and that was good and some elder came and spent the night with us befor zone pday so it was a good week we had a good amount of success and so ya this area is starting to pick up so hopefully I don't get transferred we find out next pday so we will see. have a great week. That is all this week.
Love
Elder Howe

Out of town and oh man studying the scriptures can be great!

So this week was a good week in some ways. So Monday we had a pretty good pday during the day we went and helped a guy lay some sod in his backyard and that was really good. It didn't take very long, but ya it was a slow pday. We don't know what to do on pdays sometimes because there isn't a ton to do so we end up just relaxing which isn't bad but we will see! Tuesday was fantastic so every month we have a MLC(mission leadership council)  and so it was on Tuesday and it was good President and Sister Forbes gave some great trainings on planning. It was way good and then this member of our Mission Presidency who i love he is a spiritual giant! He gave a training on how we need to help our investigators understand how to receive their own revelation from scripture and he said we need to study like Nephi and to be able to do that and to understand and receive revelation from scripture we need to have the gift of prophecy. Then he broke that down to 3 little gifts we need to have in order to get that gift! They are 1 the gift of inquiry so we must have a question so we don't just have a pointless study. That is my weakness. Then gift 2 the gift of pondering so we need to be able ponder what we study and think about it and study it out in our minds and then the 3rd gift is the gift of writing so he said most of Nephi is like him quoting Isaiah word for word so it was like his study journal  so when we study we need to have a  journal and we should write down verses word for word and it will help us receive revelation. Studying this way is amazing I have been doing it every morning  since then and it is amazing it helps so much I would encourage everyone to try it out because it is amazing. I love it so much and will continue to do it for the rest of my life. It is great but ya! Then after the meeting we made the trek home and then we went home and we did some stop bys and we ate dinner and then we went  contacting on campus and we had a super good interaction with this girl and got her number and she seem interested so that is great! Then we went to institute and it was good as always this time we talked about the miracles Christ performed and it was way good! 

On Wednesday we had our district meeting in the morning and it was good and then we had lunch and took off to exchange with some elder one hour south of us. We exchanged with them it was good we went and helped teach seminary. She asked us to tell the class how seminary has helped us out in our lives. It made me realize how seminary has helped me out in my life it is good! I am very glad that I went! but it was a good day with those elders! Then the next day we went to those elder's district meeting and on the way to the town it was in we stopped and took a picture in front of this big statue of the Jolly Green Giant so that was cool. Then went to their district meeting and it was good! We planned for some inspired tracting which is where you pray to find a specific person on a specific street so like we prayed to find a young family where the wife has red hair and the husband black hair and two kids one 3ish the other an infant who just went through some health challenge and are prepared to be baptized by the end of the year! We will come back to it later. Oh ya and on Jefferson St in North Mankato. Ya then we had lunch and we exchanged with the other elders in that district  and it was good. The elder I went with took my place in Andover when I left so it was fun to talk to him about how Andover was doing when he left. It was a  good day we saw some cool people and it was good! 

Friday we went to a member house on the way back to our area and helped him split wood and it was good lots of work, but he gave us all this stuff they canned like jelly's and they make their own apple juice and it is way good it is just apples nothing else it is so good. Then we came back into town and we showered and went to dinner and it was good with this older couple who are super awesome. Then we had some calls and we went and saw this less active guy and we aren't sure what to do with him any more, but we will see what's up with him this week. Then Saturday we had breakfast and our coordination with the WML and the ward missionaries  and that was good then our WML inspected our apt and that went fine no big deal then we didn't play soccer because no investigators were there and that is the rule so we didn't play. So that is alright we had some paperwork to do and then we ate lunch and came back to the church for a baptism of an 8 year old in the ward and it was good. I just love  seeing not just the baptism but hearing the sound of them getting baptized it is super awesome it was a good baptism! Then we still had to do our weekly planning so we did that and then ate dinner and then went and saw our investigator Roberto who has been going to the Mayo Clinic and getting tested and he was super tired from that, but we read a chapter with him and it was good. They might be able to help him so it was good news! 

Then we went to our inspired tracting and that was great we prayed and started the street we picked was long and we were tracting and hadn't found our person yet so I was getting a little discouraged, but then like the 4th to last house a lady with red hair answered and said she was putting her two kids to bed and her husband wasn't home, but to come back another time. So that is our person! which is exciting. I can't wait to go back there. Specific prayers bring very specific answers! Ya then we did a few stop bys and went home. 

Sunday was a very successful day we had 3 investigators come to church it was the 3 YSA  Karen girls (Karen is a race btw) and we didn't even get to meet with them this week so it was great they came. Anyways it was awesome! Church was good we had Elder Quorum lesson outside and that was different! but good! Then after church we went and tried to see some people and then we had an appt with this less active lady who we see and it went well. Then we went to dinner with a family, the Andersons, and they are super cool we had s'mores for dessert, but what she did was melt chocolate chips with milk in a cast iron pan and then put marshmallows on top and broiled it and it was way good super good and then we had a really good message with them. Then we went to try and see a less active, but while walking into his apartment we met a guy named Jal and taught him and that was good then saw peter the guy who we found out was a member and helped him with is esl homework and he taught us some things in his language then went went and saw another less active and talked with him it was a really good day and it was a good week we finally have a full week in our area so that is exciting! Hope everyone has a great week. 

Well next week

Love Elder Howe 

The pictures below are from the largest Candy store in Minesota. Look at the Soda flavors.

Great week full of spiritual upliftment and rice and chicken...................

So this past week was a good. On Monday we had our pday in the evening and we went out to this member's house with the sisters and another family in the ward and they have 11 acres so we hiked around their 11 acres and played some games and just hung out it was super fun. It was a super good night. It was basically just a FHE. We shared a message and everything so it was a great super fun day! 

On Tuesday we had to do some planning we finished a big plan we had to make so we could get our 3 baptisms by the end of the year and then we had to call all of our teams about their plans they made and to talk about how we could improve them so that we can be better prepared to hit this goal! So that was fun then we had to get flu shots so we did that. The first zone done got a free lunch but we lost by 3 hours unfortunately, but ya got that shot again, but this time I did not get sick then we stopped by a bunch of people and we went to dinner with a newer family in the ward and it was good they just moved from Colorado they are cool it was a good dinner! Then we went to institute and I always just love going to institute it is so much fun because we get to learn and we help out as well so that is good! On wednesday in the morning we went out and were biking around trying to see people and it got cooler her this week. It didn't get above 65 this week so it was a little chilly at first biking, but then I started to sweat so it wasn't bad but ya we then we went back home walked the huge hill and had lunch we don't have a ton of food because it is the end of the month so we had a ton of rice left and chicken so for that day we finished off the rest of our pasta so all we had left was rice and chicken so that was all we ate the rest of the week for lunch and dinner! But ya then we went back out to work we went onto campus and walked around and then tried to see a bunch of people around campus then back to the apt for dinner. Then we had more stop bys and we went to play basketball and that was fun as usual so ya that was good! 

On Thursday we had some calls in the morning and then we took off to go and exchange with  some elders about 30 miles away so we met them in their area and had lunch then I took off back to our area with Elder Anderson from Mesa, Arizona and we had a good exchange we did some stop bys and then we had to help someone move we got a ride there because they lived like 45 mins out so we went here and packed up their truck and then we came back and helped unpack at the new house for a bit and then we started to leave with our ride because we had an appt, but then they cancelled so we got out of the car and walked back to the house to finish unpacking and we finished and had dinner with them. It was good. Then we went and changed and went to an appt with a blind less active guy in our ward. It went well> We talked all about the atonement and how he can share that with others! It was a good day and a  good exchange with Elder Anderson!

Friday was awesome! So at first we had zone interviews. So we left at 8 for Elder Anderson's area where interviews were being held. Then to the church there to set up the building and we did that. Then the interviews started so teams just kind of come as their time comes up for their interview. So one of our DLs gave a training during the first half and then we did a training and it was on the fly because we didn't have a ton of warning, but it went well, i think. Then we did role playing with this elder who is struggling to talk with people in lessons. Then we had an interview with President together about the zone and that was great! Then I had my personal interview and it was good as well. I love President Forbes. Then what makes the day awesome is we went on an exchange with the assistants and one of the APs is my first comp so we got to go on an exchange together and that was lots of fun we had lunch and then had some appt with some less active and it was just super awesome. It was good to be with him again he is definitely my favorite comp of my mission so far. It was a great day for sure! 

Then Saturday Conference started and it was amazing in the first session I wrote down some general questions I had before it started and in the first talk I got some answers to alot of them. It was awesome! Conference can be such a revelatory experience if you let it be for yourself, but it was great my favorite talk of the whole conference was in the 1st session by Larry R Lawrence about the Spirit and he challenged all to ask God what we needed to do to progress. So I did that that night and didn't get an answer right away, but then I was praying again Sunday night and got my answer and it was great. It is an amazing thing to ask God what you need to do to progress because if you really want to know he will let you know! 

Sunday was great as well lots of great talks and just a great day then we had dinner with a super cool family so that was good and we went and saw a less active guy and it was a good lesson we watched Elder Renlund's talk with him. Who on a side note I have met in person! So that is cool! Ya it was a great week. Watching conference was fantastic it really strengthened my testimony that we have prophets on the earth today and they are  here to lead and guide us and show us the way! It is an amazing thing to hear them speak. They speak great words of wisdom that can help us grow if we let them help us grow. It is awesome. Well hope all is well for everybody. That is all this week till next week. 
Love 
Elder Howe

Oh ya because it go colder our apartment has been freezing this week! I have a pic inside it has been in the 50s all week. Crazy but i will be fine! 

Pic from Elder Martino's visit

Temp in the Apartment

Super awesome motivating week things are changing now!

So this past week was a pretty good week we had a pretty slow p-day we just did the normal stuff then we walked around the mall because we were bored, but ya then we had an FHE at a member's house and that was fun! Tuesday man oh man Tuesday. So we woke up a little earlier and left for Bloomington for Mission Conference at 6:45. We go there and Elder Martino of the Seventy was there and first he shook all our hands and talked to us for a second. Then we started the conference and had some training by Sister Forbes and Sister Martino and they were super good. One was about perseverance and the other was all about loving your companion. They were good trainings and then two missionary were randomly chosen to give a 3 min talk on Charity, I wasn't chosen, but they were good talks. Then President gave a training on faith and it was way good he shared an experience from his mission that was super good. I really love President Forbes he is a great man and is a great teacher and leader. Some people in the mission compare him to the last Mission President and it is sad to see how they don't respect him as much. He is a great man who is called here for a reason. I love that man and look up to him. Then Elder Martino had the last 3 hours of Mission Conference and he talked all about how our mission goal for baptism was 500 but we were only at like 250ish and he did the math and every team in our mission has to get 3 baptism by the end of the year for us to hit that and then he told us it is possible. He promised us it could happen if we had the faith that it was possible so that was super awesome and then he proceeded to give a training on how to get referrals from members and he told us it isn't hard if we are asking the right questions and show them we care. So i want everybody who is reading this email to think about these questions I am about to ask: 

      Do you know any non members who have recently had a death in the family? 
      Do you know any non members who have recently had a baby born? 
      Do you know any non members who are struggling to raise teenage children? 

As you think about those I bet at least one person will come into your mind. Think out of all the people who are coming to your mind who is the one you think would be receptive to hearing the gospel. Do you think that the Plan of Salvation could change their lives I challenge you all to pray about this and then introduce these people to your elders or sisters!  Everybody we know can benefit from the gospel and more times than not we think they will say no, but they will really say yes. Give this some thought and then act on it! 
Well it was an amazing mission conference. I learned a lot and got lots of idea to improve on. That night we didn't go home because we had mission leadership conference the next day. It would be waste of miles to go home and come back so we spent the night with the assistants. I went around with one of them and we did a lot of paperwork and meeting stuff, but it was good. What was super cool is my first companion is an assistant right now so we got talk and hang out that night when we got back to the apt because I didn't exchange with him, but it was great he is my favorite comp so far for my whole mission! 

The next day we had MLC and it was super good. Elder Matino really called us out. We had to account for our zone monthly goals and we didn't have and baptism last month and won't have any this month. He looked at us and said no more goose eggs and told us it is expected of all zone leaders to have 1 baptism a month there are no excuses. We should be the example for our whole zone and we should be leading by example so that is our goal now.  One baptism a month. So that has become my goal for the rest of my mission so I know that no matter what area I am in that it is possible as long as I have faith in the Lord!  So ya it was a great conference both days super uplifting and motivating. Then we got back that night and had a good member dinner and he told us his conversion story and it was super good! Then we had one appt and we went and played basketball and that went well there are always some non members so it is good contact! 

Thursday we had a bunch of calls to make. We had to call all the teams and tell them things they need to do that week in their planning session so that took some time then we had lunch and we had more calls. Then we went to campus and tried to contact and we had dinner and we had an appt with our investigator roberto who is not progressing we are probably not going to be focusing on him, but it was a good appt. We are getting him started on family history  so that should be good! Then we had a lesson with a less active lady who has a daughter who isn't baptized who we are focusing on because we feel really good about her at this point and we had a super good lesson with just her. The member who was with us did a really great job it was super awesome! 

Friday we had to account with our district leaders and then we had weekly planning which took until dinner time so much planning to do, but it will be worth it because it will help us get a baptism a month. We didn't finish planning, but we had an appt with Peter the guy we found out is really member so that went well we had bishop with us and it was an OK lesson he doesn't speak english very well so it is a little hard! Then we did a little more planning and we had an appt with a less active who we work with and we are helping him get ready to teach his brother a part of the plan of salvation so that went well!

Saturday we had our coordination meeting and breakfast and that went well and then we played soccer like always and that was really good. It is usually pretty fun and then we went home and changed and ate lunch and then had a call with the APs and then we went to do serivce out at a less active member's house. We helped them clean up from the yard sale they had and then we had dinner there and it was some extremely sweet sloppy joes. It was a little weird because they were super sweet! but it was all good! Then after that we still weren't finished planning because we had to make a 10 person list of people who could get baptized before January and it needs to be detailed so we were doing that and it takes a while, but it was a good day! 

Sunday was a good day this member brought two people to church and that was good. We will hopefully be able to start teaching them so that will be good they sounded interested, but ya it was a good set of meetings. We talked about obedience in gospel principles and it was really good! then after church we had a linger longer potluck so that was good and then we had more paperwork to do for the zone. Then we had dinner with a family and we did the questions thing I brought up earlier in my email and it went well they are a super awesome family. Oh ya,  the whole stake like changed here all kinds of boundaries changed. My last area doesn't exist anymore they changed the whole north part of our stake so that was interesting it affected our ward a little bit we lost one city, but it will help the branch they went to. Then that evening we had appt after appt fall through and then went to try and see a less active part member neither of us knew and we got in and visited with them for an hour and it was super good.  So that was an awesome miracle and they are ok with us coming back so that is super awesome! God is good he will always bless us as long as we have faith and we work hard and just keep working and keep believing. This week was an awesome week lots of super cool stuff happened and I just love being out here I am hoping for a great week full of miracles! Well that is all till next week!
love 
Elder Howe 

Weird Statue in Makato