What's Up Ya'll?

"The Food Den": area food bank we volunteered at

Mission truck: before

Mission truck: after (Oops!) :)

August 3, 2015

Dear Mom, Dad, Aubrey & all of my family & friends,

How's it going y'all? Man, Mom and Aubrey, when do you two sleep? It seems like in almost every e-mail I get, you two are always out and about doing something. The activities just seem to range anywhere from Jazzercise competitions to temple trips. Man, oh man. Still, I'm glad you two are staying busy and having fun. I always enjoy reading about what everyone's been doing.

Well, I guess I'll start off by answering Mom's weekly housekeeping questions: 1) Yes, I got the "Beat the Heat" package. Thank you so much. To be honest, I don't know what the deal is with these addresses in Sutton. 2) I use a separate gas card to pay for fuel for the mission car. 3) No, I don't know how to use a pay phone. Thanks for letting me know. 4) My apartment is the one on the left side of the apartment with the wreath.

Speaking of hoping things will get better, this week was probably the slowest and most frustrating week of my mission. For starters, I accidently dented and scratched the rear-driver side of the truck that I'm driving because of a sharp turn around a garage. Now I have to go through a long process of getting this damage fixed. I already filled out an online accident report and called the mission office. Now the next step is finding a place that will fix it. This frustrates me because 1) I'm usually a safe driver but now this one mistake is going say otherwise and 2) I don't know whose pocket the money is going to come from. When I was talking to Elder Crandall (he's in charge of the car management at the mission office), it sounded like either I'm the one paying for it or you guys. I'm not entirely sure because the conversation went too fast. Still, just keep me in your prayers and hope that this issue will get fixed soon.

The other thing that frustrated me was that we've been doing a lot of tracting to stay under miles and the only thing I have to show for my efforts are shirts drenched in sweat. Most of the people were either not home or just don't want to meet with us. This frustrates me because it's one of those moments that make me feel like I'm  sacrificing two years for nothing.

However, I have seen the tender mercies of the Lord this week. On one of the days when we tracting the entire day, there was one lady that gave us some water to drink near the end of the day. She may not have been interested in learning from us but I'm really grateful for her kindness. Bill (a new investigator that we picked up a couple weeks ago) has started reading the Book of Mormon and has already noticed a change in his attitude in the morning! We also got to do some service at a food pantry and I really enjoyed working with the volunteers there. #ILoveFoodPantries.

I'm sorry that this e-mail was so long. This has just been a weird week for me. Nevertheless, this does not change my testimony or faith on our Savior Jesus Christ. If this week has taught me anything, it's that when trials come, we will find that the only thing that will keep us standing is our faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. I guess that's why Jesus Christ has been sometimes called "the rock" in the scriptures.

I think that's everything. We got some stuff that we need to take care of. I love you all and miss you all. Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Elder Michael Alley