Nov 24th

Hey Everyone-
Well it has been such a great week and yet so busy! My new greenie is Elder
Bogle. Right when I saw all the new missionaries introduce themselves at
transfer meeting I knew he would be my companion! It has been an answer to my
prayers serving with him! He Is From Atlanta, GA. He was baptized 4 years ago
with his father and younger sister. He has a big family of 11 kids. His parents
are divorced and his father has been in the Military and is originally from
Kingston, Jamaica! So far I am loving my new companion and can already tell he
will be one of my favorites! I have felt the responsibility of this calling and
I know its importance but he has been so easy to train because had has a great desire to serve and he
already does a great job teaching. I have felt a huge difference already in the
wards and their attitudes towards us and I know we will be able to gain a lot of
the members trust this transfer! Bishop Gordon bore a powerful testimony of
missionary work and expresse
d to the ward that WE (the Elders) have been working hard and have been obedient
to the rules and that the ward needs to find people for us to teach! I have
loved serving around Bishop Gordan, he has taken the lead in missionary work and
has made one of his top priorities, despite not having much success in years!
Speaking of Melissa, we know that there are always challenges when you
prepare someone for baptism. Melissa and her sister and brother in-law have
moved out of our ward and luckily the Sister missionaries have been able to
start teaching her where we left off. Unfortunately, she had a tough week last
week and so we have had to postpone her baptism. It is hard because we don’t serve in her new area and therefore we can’t
randomly drop in to see how she is doing. She did come to church at the Tiger
Mountain ward and it was good to see her. She promised us before she left that
she would call us if she ever feels like that again and we will cheer her up and
give her scriptures to read. We are still praying that the Sisters will
continue to teach her and that she will be able to gain a testimony of the
truthfulness of this gospel.
Our Zone didn’t go through a lot of changes during transfers and luckily
most of the Elders still stayed! I love our Zone. On Wednesday night we have
continued to teach a recent convert, Sis. Stanley, the new member lessons and it
went very well. Later that night we had our weekly scripture study with the
Cahills! I found out on Sunday from Moe (the Daughter), that her brother Charlie
wants to receive the Priesthood and wants us to be a part of it! I was thrilled
because it was unexpected! Thursday was a normal proselyting day and that night we actually went home teaching with the High Priest group
leader! It was genius, because we got to spend some time with ward members and
they had the opportunity to get to know us. He then spent the night driving us
to our appointments and that really helped us save our miles!
Sunday was a great day! I have noticed the ward made an effort to come and
introduce themselves and we also received a lot had of invites for Thanksgiving
Dinner! We are going to try and do two of them!! I prepared a lesson on the
Atonement for the Tiger Mtn ward. But in May Valley the teacher didn’t show, so
I stepped up and taught the lesson! It was very powerful and I know the spirit
was with me because my mouth was loosed and I could feel the Spirit of the Lord
was teaching this class. I was edified and so was the class! Now when it came to
Tiger Mtn I was excited to teach this lesson again because of how well it went
in the previous ward, but that was far from the case! I felt a huge contrast and
could barely teach. I kept stumbling over my words and felt like I hadn’t touched
their hearts, despite having asking the same questions. I left frustrated and
continued to ponder the question WHY?? All I have come up with is that one
class had been ready and willing to learn
with their hearts open to the message while the other class had come to class
filled with distractions and weren’t paying attention! I have developed a
greater appreciation for my own teachers and I would invite everyone to be
reverent and come to church or seminary wanting to learn!!
Well as you can see I have had a busy yet fantastic week! I hope all is
well back home and hope you all have hearts full of thanks this week!! Enjoy all
the food!
Much love,
Elder Jason Russell

November 18

Hey Everyone-
Wow it has been a very busy week. We have been able to teach a lot of lessons which is something I love to do. It has been nice since Melissa doesn’t have a job and so she is free anytime! We met with her on Tuesday and taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith, Repentance) I used Enos 1 to teach her about faith and Alma 36 to teach her about repentance. It went very well and she is doing ALL that we ask and more. She is reading at least 3 chapters in the Book of Mormon every day.
On Wednesday we all got a call from the North Bend missionaries (my past companion) and they said that the city of Snoqualmie was flooding! So the entire Zone went down there and packed sand bags for a couple of hours. It was so crazy to see a lot of homes and parking lots under water! I guess this happens every year. Later on that evening we had another scripture study with the Cahill family.
Thursday morning we did some more service for an older gentleman from Germany, he was decked out in the old school German attire and everything. We cleaned up his horse stables and did a lot of little chores. It was fun and he bought us some pizza; which was amazing since we don’t get pizza very often. That night we had another lesson with Melissa, this time we finished teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and then I focused a lot of the time on helping her recognize the spirit. I have become very focused on how I can get her that Spiritual Testimony! It is amazing how the Lord works and answers prayers. The night before I couldn’t sleep at all and kept thinking of how I can get Melissa to feel the spirit and recognize it!! So a simple thought came to me and told me to read the Conference Ensign. As I was looking at the subjects, Testimony and Page 13 stood out. As I read that talk, I felt the Spirit very strongly and I knew it would be perfect for her! That’s how the Lord works; it’s usually the still small voice that leads and directs this work.
Friday was great! I was able to go to North Bend on exchanges; apparently IngaLisa didn’t want to take the new member lessons from the new missionary’s ha-ha. I thought it was hilarious. So they got me to come along to teach her! Before I went to teach Ingalisa I wanted to do something special for her, so I bought a beautiful picture of Christ and a little girl (it actually looked like her). Then I bought a cheap frame from Target and wrote my testimony on the back!! She loved it! I felt so blessed to be able to have seen her again and to talk with her and her Mother!
Saturday we had Melissa come to a Baptism so that she could feel the spirit that is always present at baptism and witness how it’s done! It was wonderful for her. After we helped her sister and brother in-law move! Now they have moved into another Stake but they are planning on attending the Tiger Mtn ward until the New Year! So we will be able to continue teaching Melissa and she will be baptized in Tiger Mtn!!
Sunday was great in both wards, we also found out that morning that my companion is getting transferred. So Sunday night and Monday he spent some time saying his goodbyes. Yesterday wasn’t P-day; they have switched our P-day to Tuesday which is also transfer day! I also got a call from President Moffat and he has asked me to be a Trainer! Of course I accepted. I feel a lot of responsibility in this calling and know that how I train my new companion will have a significant effect on what kind of missionary he will be!! I want to be a great trainer for my new companion. It is also wonderful to know the Lord will always be there!! Well thank you so much Mom and Dad for that package!! I was very excited to receive it and thank you everyone else for your letters this week!! They mean a lot to me!! I am actually very organized with all the letters I receive. I put them in a plastic sleeve in a huge binder!! Again I am so grateful for the wonderful week and I always feel blessed!! I hope all is well with everyone!!! Be Strong and Keep the faith!!!
Elder Jason Russell

November 10

Hey Everyone-
What a fantastic week and I felt like I have been richly blessed. Monday was a lot of fun, we all got together and just chilled at our apartment, I feel like our zone is very united. My companion and a couple of the other Elders went on a hike up to Tiger Mountain, Elder Schaub and I wanted to try and find a watch place since both of our watches batteries have been out for months! I had a lot of fun with him!
Now the only event that I remembered we did on Tuesday was scripture study with the Cahill family! Again I love to visit that family!! We have been doing a lot of work in the May Valley ward, but I always have a huge desire to focus a lot of my efforts in Tiger Mountain Ward. But it is always hard since we are about 15 miles away from this area and we have a restriction on miles! We continue to visit the members and help them become excited about Missionary work and also to show them that they can trust us!
Thursday was interviews with President Moffat, I know that he is such an inspired man and since we met the previous week he didn’t spend as much time with me, but I got the feeling from our brief meeting that I am going to spend another transfer here and continue to work with the members! Now at first I will admit that I wasn’t too happy knowing that I would stay in this area, but I have always had the mind frame that I’ll accept whatever the Lord decides. Even though I do not ask for trials, I have a firm belief that when we are stretched and challenged, that this is when we are the most humble and where the most growth takes place in all aspects of our lives, whether the growth is Spiritually, Emotionally and our overall Character.
Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Ross, who came out with me. We had a great day and I was able to meet some wonderful people and members! We spent the day in Snoqualmie, which was so much fun since this was the area that bordered my last!!
Sunday was such an amazing day and I will continue to thank my Father in Heaven for the blessings that he lovingly bestows upon us! In May Valleys Sacrament Meeting they did their primary program and following that I had the chance to teach the gospel essentials class, which went very well! Than we headed off to the Tiger Mountain Ward. We had PEC with the Bishop, and the entire time I could sense and feel the desire that Bishop Gordon has to do missionary work, and because of that I had a great motivation to bring success in Tiger Mountain!( 8 years since a convert baptism!) I have found tracting in this area to be very difficult, no one is usually home and when they answer the door they are always too busy to talk to us. They are generally a very rich community and don’t see a need for God in their lives. So with that in mind I know we needed a miracle in this ward and it happened!!! There is a young Family in the ward, The Jacksons, now brother Jackson has always be en a member and he actually baptized his wife on his mission to AZ. Now his wife has a sister, Melissa (age 19), who has been living with her for a couple of months! She has had a rough past with Drugs etc...but came to church last week( I thought she was a member). But this week after sacrament, Bishop was inspired to pull her aside and talk with her! She explained to him that she wanted to change her life and loves coming to church and feels at home! The Bishop found us and introduced us to her! We made small talk with her and set up an appointment with her for that night at 7! Now the lesson in itself will take a long time to explain, but it went very well and we had to depend entirely upon the spirit! The lesson was very spiritual and was very emotional for her and her sister! When the spirit was right, we asked her to be baptized on November 30 which she gladly accepted! I was so thrilled and I know the work that lies ahead and the possible challenges but I am excited to see the gospel change Melissa’s life!! We have another appointment on Tuesday!!! Well I am about out of time but I feel so blessed and want to share how much I love my family and friends. Have a great week and hope all is well.
Elder Jason Russell

November 3

Hey Everyone-
Well it has been a great week; things have been getting a little better and I have been starting to see some success in the area! Now I don’t have much time to email today because I am about to go on a hike with everyone in the zone.
During the week we were able to teach a couple of lessons, we had our weekly scripture study with the Cahill family and they actually came to church last Sunday!! Which I was very happy about; they are one of my favorite families. We have been teaching Sister Stanley, who is a recent convert of about a year. We decided to teach her all of the lessons again and it’s been going well. It has been a challenge teaching with my companion because he really doesn’t want to teach. He will only testify which makes it hard on me to do all the lessons. Luckily, I have our Ward Mission Leader to help support what I am teaching. I wish I could depend on my companion a little more, but I am working to build his confidence but what makes it hard is that he often refuses to learn! I am grateful that the Lord makes up for it and I can feel his help in every lesson! I really do love teaching! We have been meeting with a part member family; the wife is not a member and has been i nvestigating for 12 years! She loves the church but she is a devote Catholic!
Now on Thursday I got an unexpected phone call from President Moffat and he wanted to meet with me! I had no idea what it was about, but he really just wanted to follow-up with me and see how I am doing. I know he is so inspired because I really have been having a tough time and I know he could somehow sense it! As you know, sometimes I am not the most open person with my feelings haha and so when President asked me how I was doing and I responded, “I am doing good President.” His response back to me was, “No, How are you REALLY doing?” ha. So I expressed the concerns I have had with the area and how it’s been a challenge trying to get the members motivated and developing their trust in the Missionaries! He was actually very mindful of the circumstances and gave me some great advice. He expressed why he had sent me into this area (which I wrote in my journal), and that this is the hardest area in the mission! I appreciated President Moffat and love him for making t
hat effort to see how I was doing!
Friday was Halloween, it wasn’t a very productive day because everyone was so busy, but we did go to the Wards Trunk-or-Treat Party and we were the judges in the Chili cook-off!! We had a lot of fun, but we had to be in Early at 5! When I got home I received a very amazing package from The Edwards!! I can hardly express how much I appreciated that gift. THANKS so much!! I also received letters from Anna that day and two from the Family! Yea I can’t express how much I love my family and friends for their support!! Saturday was a busy day full of lessons and visits and Sunday was normal! I did enjoy PEC in May Valley; it’s usually not my favorite to attend because they don’t appreciate what we are trying to do and they usually take this time to find fault, but I did get a compliment from the WML on my teaching! I am glad that things have been slowly getting better! Well I love all of you very much and thanks so much for all you do for me!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD las
t week, sorry I didn’t get to send a letter! I hope you enjoyed your day a lot!!!! Wow 51!!! I hope everyone has an amazing week.

Elder Jason Russell