Chris’ Mission–Assistant to the President with Elder Eric Johnsen

We were up at 5:30 to get ready for the airport scene. We got those missionaries off, and then we got Elder Hartvigsen (who had missed his bus the day before) on a bus to Mt. Pleasant. We washed the van and put armor all on it and got some other things taken care of. Then we hit the office. I worked quickly and got the Master Zone Car List updated and we worked on Youth Missionaries to finally get them going. We got a lot accomplished. Tonight, we got to do some proselyting, but not as much as I would like. But it was a pretty good day. Friday, June 17

This was a full day in the office. I worked hard all day, mostly on Youth missionary information. It was a hot, long day in the office. If felt good tonight to go out and do some missionary work. We met with Debbie and showed her “Mountain of the Lord”. It wasn't as powerful as it usually is, but I hope it helped her some. She has gotten a lot of anti, so it is hard to work with her in some ways. She really needs the gospel in her life. Saturday, June 18

Qing and Dai attended church today as the newest members in the ward here. We also met with them and showed them another cartoon video, the one on “The Journey to the Promised Land”. They really love those videos and really love the Book of Mormon. It is awesome to watch as their testimony and knowledge continue to grow and progress. They are the greatest. We attended a baptism and we talked with a member who used to be an AP in Japan about some programs they used there to get the mission going. It was a great talk. We also did totals until late tonight and the mission is doing awesome. We have had 30 baptisms so far this month, I hop we can hit and exceed 53, the record that we set back in December. We need to keep breaking that record and this month is definitely the month to do it. Today was also Fathers Day. I was really blessed with a great father. I love him so much. Sunday, June 19

It just doesn't get any better than this. We had one of the sweetest days ever. It started out with some late night studying last night. I was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep but I had all kinds of thoughts running through my head. I was thinking about the talk I am going to give at ZLC on “Faith and Drawing on the Powers of Heaven.” I had lots of ideas in mind so I got up and started preparing it. Then I started reading the Wilford Woodruff book that I just bought. He was an amazing missionary. I rejoiced in his labors and felt the spirit strong. The next morning was great. Debbie came to church and I think she really enjoyed it. She is really progressing very well. We had great meetings and I know the spirit was present. I hope she recognized it and is ready to become a member. I am so glad we are working with her. She is awesome, and her two little boys (Zachary and Matthew) are the cutest. I hope so much that she will be baptized soon. After church, we had the sweetest Dinner Appointment with the Hibberts. They are such a wonderful family. I am getting close to them. They are a blast to be around. And their taught, Alison Breann is adorable. So that was great. And at 4:30, we had the highlight down at the Holt building. It was the baptism of Chris Bicknell. It was an awesome service. I had the opportunity to baptize her, and what a privilege it was. After the ordinance was complete, I sat and stayed at the font after everyone cleared out and I just gloried in the spirit. It is such an awesome blessing to have the power to teach souls the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And it is such an honor to hold the Priesthood of God and to use it to baptize those elect should whom God has prepared for us in this area. And Chris is definitely one of the elect should. She had been prepared for a long time to receive what took place today. The spirit was so strong throughout the entire baptismal service. It was a glorious event. I feel so happy to be a part of it all. I thank God for allowing me to do so. This is what missions are all about. At 8:00, we had a special Satellite broadcast from the Carthage Jail to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum. We heard inspiring music - A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet, and Praise to the Man. Those songs really move me. They are so powerful. We heard talks from Elder Ballard, President Hinckley, and President Hunter. It was such a joy to hear from the living prophet. A great Joseph Smith quote that President Hunter shared really struck me. It says, “What can man do, when God is your friend”. I’m so grateful for the gospel and all the blessings it brings into my life. I now it is true and I love it. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Dai Wei was interviewed today to receive the Aaronic Priesthood and will be ordained next week and he asked me to ordain him. I am very excited. What a beautiful, wonderful, fantastic day! Sunday, July 26

This was an alright P-day. It was a lot of fun and we did a lot of things but it was so hectic. We were running around all day trying to get the things done we needed to. We were always in a hurry but it was still a great day. We did get to play some basketball and I was totally ripping it up. We also went golfing with Blain Tuft. We golfed 9 holes and I played pretty good. I shot a 46. It was fun to get out on the golf course again. I totally love to play. This evening, we taught Fred and Elisa the 1st discussion. They are awesome, but they are pretty set in their ways. The discussion went really well but they have a lot of questions from the anti they have been getting. But if they will sincerely read the Book of Mormon and ponder it and pray,, then the truth will be made known to them. I hope they will follow the promptings of the spirit. They are a really cool couple. Monday, June 27

Today was Zone Leader Conference and it was awesome. We have some powerful Zone Leaders in the mission right now. Our focus today was “Faith, and Drawing on the Powers of Heaven to assist us in our missionary work.” I led a discussion on that topic and it went very well. We also had discussions on leadership and on Resolving Concerns. And of course President talked for a long time to teach and motivate everyone. I also discussed our ideas for Wilford Woodruff week with everyone. I feel like I used the commitment pattern pretty well and actually just helped the group to come up with the ideas for this week. They are all excited and feel the mission is ready for it. Now we just need to do the same thing with the missionaries to prepare them for it and to created a desire for them to do it. If we are successful at doing that, then it will be a very productive week. We planned it for July 27 - August 3. It will be good. Our ZLC was very spiritual and uplifting. Tonight we had dinner with the Hibberts - they are awesome. And then we visited Debbie, but that didn’t go at all like we had planned. It turns out she didn’t like church at all. She says she felt very distant from God and that she didn’t feel the spirit. That just blew me away, because this is Gods church. Why didn’t she feel that? Usually, when we get people to church, they end up getting baptized. But church has sent her in the wrong direction. We need to get that reversed because she is too awesome to lose. Tuesday, June 28

This was a pretty good day. I was totally worn out from all that has been going on lately, but once I got going, it was a great day. We were in the office all day, but got some good things taken care of. We had Pizza Hut lunch with Elders Wright, Gyori, Miner,and Jenkins and that was fun. Tonight, we taught Qing and Dai the first new member lesson with John Coakley and Br. Erikson. That went well, they continue to learn. We went jogging again tonight and got some good exercise. We have done that Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and today. It feels good to get into shape. Wednesday, June 29

This was a pretty normal AP day. We did all kind of work in the office and got tons of things done. During the evening, we went out to proselyte and we were able to teach Craig Thomas and his girl friend Sherry. Craig was the starting tailback for Michigan Sate this past year. Now he is trying to get on an NFL team. It was a good discussion. He also had some cool fish, they were Pirañas. Thursday, June 30

A lot of my day was spent on the computer today. We got a new computer in the office and losing one. So I had to copy all my vital information from the 2 front computers onto disks so that we would not lose it. I am learning a lot more about computers and I like that. The other big project of the day was taking care of the Elders in Owosso. They had some major problems up there. The 2 missionaries there have been having a rough time and have been very disobedient. They even let a woman and her kids sleep in their apartment the night before last. The landlord called up our office and wanted them evicted because of what was going on. So President made an unannounced visit to their place and caught the woman there and found the apartment looking like a pig sty. He said it was terrible. Dirty diapers and food all over, etc. So they cleaned the whole place up over the last 2 days and we picked them up in the van this evening. They spent the rest of the evening with us, me and Roller visited with Qing and Dai and Stucki and Johnsen checked our investigators. Stucki has really been disappointing me here lately. He should be a great missionary, has so much potential. But ever since he was released as a Zone Leader in Grand Rapids, he hasn't done much. But in being with him tonight, I feel like he will turn it around. He is a bright guy and should figure it out. But I can’t figure out Roller. He is pretty strange. I don’t know what to make of him. He has caused a ton of problems lately, but he has had a rough life so I feel bad for him. They are going to get a thorough chewing out by President tomorrow, but hopefully they will have the right attitude and maybe we can get them back out in the field. Friday, July 1

We finished taking care of the Owosso Elders today. After President talked to them, we took the Action Van and transferred them. We took Elder Vance Lee up to Owosso, took Stuck up to Bay City East to be with Malan, and brought K. Alder back to take over in Owosso with Elder Lee. And Roller is now in the threesome with Georgianna and J. Larsen. I think this will work out a lot better in every respect. But it took most of the day to get all the moves done. When we got home, we were supposed to teach Debbie the third, but she wasn’t home. So we took the van back over to President’s and hung out there the rest of the night (from 8:00 on). We played some basketball with Pres. and that was a blast. He has a good shot and he told us stories about his early athletic days. He was quite the athlete and still holds some track records in Utah and Nevada. After our hoop game, we went in and just talked forever. We didn’t leave until midnight, but it was so fun to be around them. They told us how they met and got married and about their early married years. They are the greatest. When we left, we realized that we had a 7:30 Stake Correlation meeting here in Lansing. We weren’t ready for it at all, so we spent from midnight until 1:00 preparing all the paperwork for that. When we finally got home, we were beat. It was a long but good day. President and Sister Waite are the greatest. Saturday, July 2

Not much happened today. Church was good, except we didn’t have any investigators there. But during priesthood, we watched this video which was the greatest. It was about Joseph Smith, a dramatization, of some of the highlights in his life and basically just had quotes from other people about him. It was so good and powerful. I totally felt the spirit. I want to get a copy of it somehow. We took a little nap because we were so tired from last night. Then we had a really fun dinner appointment at the Rasmussens. They are an awesome family. Sunday, July 3

Happy Birthday, Uncle Sam. We had a good Independence Day. It was a good way to spend a holiday. We played basketball twice, once at 6:00 in the morning and once at 1:00. So we got our physical exercise in. In between that time, we just did our laundry and shopping and all that good stuff. We hung out with Elder Miner, Jenkins, Wright, and Gyori for most of the day. They are awesome guys. After our afternoon basketball, we went over to Presidents and washed and waxed the cars. Then me and Johnsen stayed there while the others went elsewhere. I watched most of the second half of the USA vs. Brazil World Cup game. The USA held it to a 0-0 tie until the 70th minute when Brazil finally scored and it ended up a 1-0 loss for the US. Not bad for us. But Brazil really dominated the entire game, even though they were down one player for a red card. It was fun to watch. We had a good barbecue with the Waites, the Wilsons, the Jenks, and Sister Blank and Reber. It was great. Playing ping-pong, eating watermelon. And then we went and saw a few fireworks with Miner, Jenkins, Gyori, and Wright. Tonight, we have 3 guests sleeping in our apartment. Elder Sanders, Hodges, and Nielson from Cheboygan and Rogers City went behind President back and slept up at St. Ignace and were going to spend the entire day up there. So Pres. had them drive down with all their stuff and he might send them home. He kind of needs to show that he is serious about obedience. Monday, July 4

This was not one of my favorite days in the mission field. All we did was deal with the problems caused by Sander, Hodges and Nielsen. President started interviewing at 9:00. He did them all separate and then he brought them all together and we all sat in on that one. Boy were those guys scared. I think they were convinced they were going home. But they pleaded with him and of course he is letting them stay. President really is a big softie. But they seemed sincere in their repentance and desire to stay and be good missionaries. It was interesting to be a part of all this. When we finally wrapped it all up at 5:00, we ran to a DA at the Coakleys, then back to the mission home for a bit, and then to the office for a late night. We had all the Grand Rapids stuff to get ready. (Stake Correlation reports, Zone Conference agenda, etc.) and we also had to prepare for the Lansing Zone Conference because we won't be home until late from Grand Rapids. We ended up staying until after 1:00 to get everything done. It was a long night, but it was pretty fun because I was so tired and in a funny mood. Tuesday, July 6

We had Grand Rapids/Muskegon Zone Conference so we headed out about 7:15. We also had to take Elder Nielsen over to put him in a threesome over there so we drove the van and took President and Sister Waite with us. We had a nice drive over. I guess I should say what we are doing with these Elders here with us. We took Nielsen and put him with Elder Rollins and Archibald. And Sanders and Hodges will be serving together and with Elder Gorda in St. Johns. And we are sending Churchill up to Cheboygan to be with Adam Johnson. So we have that problem all worked out now. The Zone Conference was an excellent one. The missionaries are really good ones and it was a very spiritual meeting. The two zones are led by Elder Backus and Rhoton, and there is such a sharp contrast between the 2 zone leaders. Elder Rhoton is a bit loud and overbearing. Elder Backus is just an excellent missionary, and a great Zone Leader. He really carves himself well and knows how to lead. We heard great discussions on Faith and especially on Sacrifice. Elder Backus led that one and it was good. Then we led a discussion on the Wilford Woodruff week, to prepare the missionaries for that upcoming week. It went very well because we didn't tell them what we are going to do. Almost all the missionaries are pumped up and excited about it. Many of them talked about it during their testimonies. I keep feeling better and better about it all the time. It just might be the jumpstart we need. The testimony meeting was the best set of testimonies I have heard in a long time. That is a blessing of attending Zone Conferences, hearing all the sweet testimonies. This evening, we had our Stake Correlation meeting and President finished up all the interviews he could. So it was looking like another late night. We dropped off President and Sister Waite at about 11:30pm. As we were driving home to our apartment, I looked over and saw 2 men running and then realized it was Elder Georgianna and J. Larsen. There were a few things wrong with that. First, it was way past their bed time and also they are in a threesome with Elder Roller so that means they left him home alone. I couldn't believe it because Georgianna is already on the brink of going home and here they were being disobedient again. We pulled over and picked them up and talked with them for a while. Then we took them home and found Roller listening to the radio and also found some apostate music and magazines so we interviewed him for a long time. It made for a very interesting evening. It is actually pretty funny to think back about Georgianna and Larsen jogging down the street in the middle of the night. We didn't get home until after 1:30am. Another short night of sleep. Wednesday, July 6

We attended the Lansing Zone Conference today and it was a good one. There are good missionaries here, but also a lot of departing missionaries. We had 9 give their departing testimony. The spirit was very strong. I especially liked one quote used by K. Wright. It says, “If I knew then what I know now, I would be ashamed to call it a sacrifice”. That is so true in my mission experience. All the things that I thought I was giving up really aren't that hard after all. And the blessings that come far outweigh any sacrifices. Thursday, July 7

Today was the Traverse City Zone Conference. Johnsen and I drove up separate to it so that we could travel around a bit after. The zone is really good up north. Hard working and obedient so we had a very spiritual Zone Conference. Beth Beaudoin from St. Ignace came down for it so it was good to see her and to see her 1 year old taught, Heather, who I took a picture with when she was 2 weeks old. It was Presidents birthday today so we had a little celebration during lunch. He turned 68. Elder Tuckfield had a guy draw up a caricature of President and he put it on a t-shirt. It says, “Air Pres”. It’s hilarious. After Zone Conference and all the interviews and meetings, we ordered pizza and ate it at Tuckfield’s place. We had a fun time there just talking and laughing. After we all ate, we stayed at Warren and Price’s apartment on the other side of town so that Pres. and Sister Waite could stay at Tuckfield and Bowns. So we sort of had a little sleepover. The missionaries up there are really good missionaries and they are fun to be around. Plus its just great to be up North. Friday, July 8

Today was a very relaxed, do whatever we want day. Pres. and Sister Waite went to the Cherry Festival parade, and then we went with them to President Hoovers home. They fed us lunch there and then he took us on a sweet tour of the surrounding area. He showed us the Sleep Bear Sand Dunes and some beautiful countryside. It was a ton of fun. After that we started to head home, but we stopped in Midland to visit with those Elders, and also in Bay City so that I could buy Malan and Dickinson some Taco Bell. Then we headed home. Johnsen slept the whole way home. Saturday, July 9

This was an awesome P-day. We wore ourselves out, though. We did the usual office meeting in the morning and got a few things taken care of. For our physical activity, we played football for a long time, and then we played soccer. It was a blast. I haven't played for so long. There wasn't any competition there for me, but it was fun. We played hard and we are worn out. Tonight, we prepared all the paper work for Kalamazoo Zone Conference tomorrow. Monday, July 11

Kalamazoo Zone Conference. This zone keeps getting better and better. It is still the worst zone, but it has come a long ways in the last few months. Wilford Woodruff week didn’t go across as well with these Elders because they feel like they are already sacrificing so much. Lame. But many of them are excited and it will be a great week. I had to drive Sullivan and Flanders down to St. Joseph and back tonight in President’s Bonneville to pick up their keys. I had a great time doing that, and loved spending the day with President and Sister Waite as usual. Tuesday, July 12

This was our “catch up on paperwork day” in the office. But there is so much to catch up on that we still aren't close. We worked on things all day, so it was not the best day. But tonight we went and taught Fred and Elisa. They are the best people. If they could only see the great truths contained in the gospel. Teaching them was definitely the highlight of the day. Wednesday, July 13

Midland Zone Conference. Midland is a good zone. We have stacked it with some of the best missionaries we have. Christofferson and his greenie are ripping it up and leading the zone. It was a good meeting today. The spirit was strong and everything discussed went very well. This was the last zone conference of the month, so it really was Eric Johnsen’s departing testimony. He is a great companion. I am going to miss him a lot after next week. I drove home tonight, I love that Pontiac Bonneville. Everyone else was asleep and I was pretty tired but we made it. I don’t think I will ever get caught up on sleep. Thursday, July 14

Another full day of paperwork. And we are still no where near to catching up. Actually, most of the day we spent with President trying to work out transfers. We are making a lot of moves this month but they all need to be because we have 11 greenies coming and 12 going home. So the whole mission is getting shaken up this month. We ate dinner at the Hibberts, we have so much fun when we go over there. The Hibberts are hilarious. After dinner, we just checked call backs for the rest of the night. Not much success. Friday, July 15

More paperwork. But we accomplished some much needed work and made a good dent in our pile of things to take care of. We had a fun dinner with the University sisters (Blank and Reber) and the Lansing sisters (Reeser and Fillmore) at Scott Campans. Scott is going on his mission to California in September. He is a cool guy. After that, we took two beds over to Presidents and chatted with them for a long time. They truly are the greatest I really love them a lot. They are such good people - I don’t think mission presidents could be any better. I love them a lot. Saturday, July 16

This was a fantastic day. Church was really good, a strong spirit was there. And the best part of it was during priesthood. I had the opportunity to ordain Dai Wei to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of a priest. That was such a good experience for me. It was my first priesthood ordination. I love how my mission makes me get out of my comfort zone and helps me to learn and grow and progress. This was really neat. I felt the spirit so strong as the ordination took place. After church, we took the cartoon “The Savior in America” to Qing and Dai’s and showed that to them. Holy cow, I hadn’t felt the spirit that strong in a long time. It is always easy to bring into their home because it is usually already present somewhat. They are such a great couple. I love them a lot. We had a nice dinner with the Wilsons and then back to the office to prepare totals. We got them all ready and called a couple of our Zone Leaders. But then we took a time out. We attended a baptismal service where Gyori and Wright baptized Cal and Greg Ross. It was really nice. Then we went and taught Fred and Elisa and shared a lot with them about the Book of Mormon. What a wonderful book that is. But they are trying to learn by using anti along with the gospel we teach them. It just doesn't work that way. i hope we can help them see what blessings could be in store for them. After our discussion, we finished totals. They look pretty good, but we have so much to improve on in the mission. And baptisms are pretty low so far. They need to really pick up. Sunday, July 17

Another fun day today. We played our 6:00 b-ball with Steve Hibbert and the Okimos Elders. Then we had our office meeting and worked on transfers again with President all morning. We made quite a few changes from last Friday. After we got all finished there, we went to see Sister Waite. She fed us lunch of course, and we set up the beds in the basement. We went to Lake Lansing Park for a minute but didn’t want to hang with the disobedient gents who were there. So we went to Patriarch Park and played football for a while. And then we fit in a round of golf over at Indian Hills. It was free because of Br. Nelson and was a lot of fun. I had my birthday dinner over at the Hibberts tonight. What awesome people. They invited us, the sisters, Tufts, Jenks, Lydia Gonzales, and Bobbie. It was so fun. Good food (Lasagna) and red jello. So my favorite meal with wonderful company. We were laughing the whole night. I was holding Alison, their little daughter, and she fell asleep in my arms. That is my favorite thing to do. It was just a very fun time. The Hibberts really are the best. They are an ideal family. After dinner, we went to the office for a little while. This was a great day. I can’t believe I am 21 tomorrow. Monday, July 18

Happy Birthday to me! This was the weirdest birthday I think I will ever have. It didn’t feel like my birthday. We were so busy today that I never really had time to think about it. We had to talk about transfers some more and make some more changes on the board. That always takes a long time. And then about lunch time, Elder Johnsen suggested we go to Olive Garden for my birthday. So we went out to lunch with President and Sister Waite. We had a good time there. Then we had to run out to the airport to greet the new deaf sister, Sister Cahoon; and to send off Sister Bunch, who has to go home. After we got that take care of, we hustled around the office trying to get ready for transfer calls in the morning. We got home about 11:00, but I think we are all set for tomorrow. When we got home, I finally got a chance to open my presents. I got new garments, socks, a tie, a bunch of candy, some gent clothes, a book about President Howard W. Hunter, a tape, and some money. It is a good score on gifts. I needed most everything I got. The presents were fun to open and then I called home. President had given me permission because I needed to talk about my BYU application and a couple other things. It was really nice to talk to them and I am excited to see them soon but I want my last months to drag out however. Time is going by way too fast. Well, now I am 21 and legal to do whatever I want. Sounds tempting … not! Tuesday, July 19

We met at the office at 6:30 today and started on the transfer calls. We had to make a couple more changes today on the moves we had planned. This was like our 5th transfer meeting. But I think we’ve got it all set now. We finished calls at about 9:00. It took forever because there are over 45 transfers taking place. All but 22 companionships were touched. But this was because we are losing 12 missionaries and gaining 10 and we are creating another zone in Saginaw out of Midland. And we have a new calling, Traveling Elders, and there are just tons of moves that are necessary. We are whitewashing a bunch of areas to make room for trainers and to strengthen areas where it is needed. So there are all kinds of stuff going on. My new companion is Elder Tuckfield. He is going to be awesome. The traveling Elders who will live at our apartment, or at least base from there, are Elder Rowley and Elder Wright. They will both do awesome and it will be cool to have them around here sometimes. We have 10 trainers, 5 new zone leaders, and a lot of chances of people to shine and prove themselves. We hope to see a lot of good things going on now. After transfer calls are over, we usually go over to Presidents for some breakfast, but we didn't even get that today. We were trying to throw everything together for the greenies and for transfer moves. And then President called me in and sent me on a trip up to Bay City to pick up Elder Stucki. He has had a lot of problems recently with a girl and it is all finally coming out. We had to send him to another mission, but he barely missed being sent home. And that is what we want everyone to think, that he was sent home. It is really too bad because he was one of the best missionaries out here. So I took Georgianna as a traveling companion and cruised up to Bay City and back. I got him back to the office about 3:15, we ran to the bank and closed his account, and ran to the airport to get him on the 4:26 flight out of here. We also had to send Elder Howard home with him for medical leave. But he should be back. While we were hustling around the airport, President and Sister Waite were greeting the 10 greenies and welcoming them to the mission. It was a little tough to accomplish both things without the groups coming together. Once they were on the plane, we thought no more problems would come up, but we were wrong. One of the greenies had left the MTC about 2 weeks ago and nobody had bothered to tell us. So we had to drop a trainer and rearrange all of our plans. Then most of the luggage for the new guys didn’t show up but was expected on the next flight. It seemed like everything that could go wrong, did. But somehow we made it home and got them all oriented and briefed. And finally, we made it to Sister Waites dinner. It tasted so good after not eating all day. After dinner, we had our testimony meeting and it was great. The spirit was so strong as these new missionaries bore their testimonies and expressed their desire to serve. They are a powerful group and are really going to help the mission. As I bore my testimony afterwards, I was so struck by the spirit and I couldn't hold back the tears. After we concluded, President and I met in his office and made the assignments for their trainers. We talked about how we each already had them assigned, and we were the same on almost every one. That feels so good because it means I am in tune with the spirit because I know President is. We have some powerful companionships. We told them their assignments and finally were finished. But we didn’t get home until way past midnight. So I will get my allotted 4 hours of sleep as an AP. That’s all we are supposed to get I think. It was a wonderful, exciting, challenging, sad, happy, productive day. One that will be hard to forget. Wednesday, July 20

I put the miles on the Action Van today. I did the transfer by van again and traveled around the whole mission. This time I started at 7:15 am at the mission home with Elder Gorda and 6 greenies. I did the opposite route as last month traveling to Jackson first, then Kalamazoo, then Grand Rapids, Big Rapids, Midland, Saginaw, and back to Lansing. It was a good long trip - 397 miles carrying a total of 21 missionaries before the day was through. This time was a lot better because I allotted more time for myself at each stop and I was on schedule for most of the day. I even got to eat some lunch this time. The best part of it all was when I got to Big Rapids. Elder Painter let the members know I was coming and a bunch of them were waiting for me when I pulled up. I got to see Lori and Michael Spires, Donna and Jeni Savard, Jordan Rowell, and Mike Smith. It was so good to see them all. I wanted to stay and talk for a long time, but I could only spend about 20 minutes and still be on time. That was awesome, though. So for the total day, I drove from 7:15am to 4:50pm, a total of 9.5 hours. When I arrived back, I dropped the departing missionaries off for their dinner and I had to take some luggage over to Elder Ingham. Then I finally ate really fast and headed to the departing testimony meeting. That was interesting because there was such a sharp contrast between the good and bad missionaries. You could totally tell from their testimonies and even just by watching them. The gentile missionaries were not impressive at all. The awesome missionaries including Elder Johnsen, K. Wright, Miner, Sister Blank, and Sister Neumarker were incredible. I said the closing prayer at that meeting. Then we returned to the mission home and talked for a while. Elder Bischoff played his song called goodbye and Miner sang it. It sounded awesome and really brought the spirit. Then President talked for a while and it was just sweet. I was in a real sober mood, just reflecting on my mission and my friends out here and the gospel. We had a prayer and then President started interviews and then the party began. Those gentile missionaries got right back into the world. They were playing apostate songs on the guitar and on tape, they had their two liters of Mt. Dew and Pepsi, and they just partied all night. President had to go down and tell them to shut up more than once. He says he feels like he needs to rededicate the house now. I just felt sorry for the good missionaries because they were having a hard enough time going home without all the crap going on. But both types of missionaries will be rewarded with what they deserve. Thursday, July 22

It was hard to put Eric Johnsen and Wright and Miner on the plane today. They were awesome missionaries. This was the first time I sent my companion home and it was hard. I will miss him. It was even harder for them to go, however. It was hard to see Sister Blank leave also. Her family came out and picked her up and they drove home. So we said goodbye a bit later. She is an awesome missionary and a good friend. But as for the other Yahoos, it was good riddance. In their testimonies, none of them expressed gratitude for President and Sister Waite and that alone shows what they were like on their missions. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the apartment and getting things taken care of for the month. It turned out that we had to send Elder Roller home, but he was up in Harrison. So at 4:00 I started another trek around the mission. I drove for President and Sister Waite because he was so tired. We scored the new couple, the Parkers, out to Ludington first. It was awesome to get back to that town. I saw President and Sister Overheat and got to visit with them for a long time. I even got to see Andy. That was a sweet area. After we finished everything up in Ludington, we headed over to Harrison, dropped off Adam from Ludington, picked up Roller and took Roller and Seal back to Lansing. It was a long trip, we didn't get home until 3:00 am. I drove all of it except for about 1 hour. I don’t know how I stayed awake but somehow we made it. I totally have been strengthened by the Lord this entire week with as much sleep I am living on. When we got back, I just slept at the mission home. Friday, July 22

It was weird to wake up in the mission home this morning. I got up at about 7:30 and took care of Rollers bank account and stuff. Then we took him out and got him on the 10:30 flight. Then President took me shopping and bough me a bunch of fruit and corn on the cob and some other goof stuff. That was nice of him. Then we picked up Loutzenheiser at Grand Ledge and took him and Elder Seal to Stonegate, their new area. And finally, we were actually done with transfers. We started on Tuesday and finished on Saturday. I went to the airport 4 times in 5 days and put over 1000 miles on the Action Van. What a crazy week. Today I cleaned up my stuff in the apartment, washed the van, changed the Master Zone Car List, and then we attended the Stake play called “America, a land of promise.” There was some great music. Tonight I need to get a full 8 hours of sleep to catch up. I am beat. Worn out physically, mentally, and spiritually. But it has been a good week. Challenging and tough, but good. Saturday, July 23

Chris’ Mission–Assistant to the President with Elder Christofferson and Elder Eric Johnsen

Well, all my dreams have come true. I am being transferred down to the office to serve as an Assistant to the President with Elder Christofferson and Elder Eric Johnsen. I am so excited. I have had the desire to serve with both Christofferson and Johnsen my entire mission. And now I get them both at the same time. And I get to serve around President and Sister Waite, and in the office, and at Michigan State University, and greet the new greenies as well as say goodbye to the departing missionaries. I get to travel around the mission to all the Zone Conferences and other meetings, work with transfers, and so many other awesome things. I didn’t think I could ever be so blessed. I have the two best missionaries in the mission as companions and things are going to be so awesome. I can’t wait to get there tomorrow.

This was a sweet area here in Midland, though. The members here are so cool, and I have really enjoyed it. There are a lot of people that I will miss. And the area is also a good one. We have just finally gotten this place really rocking. We are teaching a lot of good people. We went around and said goodbye to a lot of people today. Trisha and Stefan Sezenias and Emmitt Jenkins. He was so fun to teach. I am worried about him because he is getting some anti-Mormon stuff thrown at him. We talked about a bunch of things tonight. I just pray that he will follow the truth. We also visited many others including Bishop Jensen and his family, the Masons, etc. And we also called a bunch of others. It is always so hard to say goodbye. Elder Moon is also getting transferred, down to Saginaw so this area is being whitewashed. Elder McMorrow and Ostler are coming in so I need to make sure it is a smooth transition. Ostler won’t get here until Friday night or Saturday, so I am having Elder Moon stay here with McMorrow to show him around the next few days and hit our appointments while Saginaw will be in a threesome for a couple of days. This AP authority is already coming in handy.

Well, I’m outta here, but I'm so excited about my new calling and responsibilities. It is going to be so awesome. Also, I get to see Johanson again before and while he boards the plane. Sweet. Plus I will still get to come up for Stake Conference to Midland to see the General Authority, F. Enzio Busche; and to say goodbye to more Midland members and to see everyone from Cheboygan. I am psyched. Things could not be better. Wednesday, May 18

This was the sweetest day. I got on the bus in Midland at 11:40 and arrived in East Lansing at 3:15. It was a pretty uneventful bus ride. Elder Christofferson and Johanson and Foote picked me up. We had an awesome departing dinner prepared by Sister Waite. Only three are departing, but they will be so missed, especially Johanson. After our dinner, me and Christofferson ran around Lansing in the Action Van trying to care of some missionaries who were stranded throughout the town. We had one bus that broke down on the freeway and fouled up 3 missionaries travel arrangements. Since we had to take care of that, we were late to the testimony meeting but it was an awesome meeting. Olga and Sister Jane Weiss and Eve Oneal were all there and it was great to see them of course. We didn’t have time to unpack or anything tonight, so just pulled out our night stuff and got some sleep. What a day. Thursday, May 19

Holy Cow! What a sensational day. It was definitely the longest but most productive day I have ever had. We woke up at 4:50 getting ready for the airport scene this morning. We met at the mission home at 5:45, had some juice and doughnuts, and headed to the airport. It was so weird to be there and to see those guys getting on the plane. I was so choked up as I hugged Johanson and watched him walk away. I couldn't believe they were going home, but it was a neat experience to be a part of. When we got back to the Mission Home, President just talked to us in the Van for a long time about the mission and about our calling and responsibilities. I just get so excited talking to him. We helped them in the house for quite a while this morning, moving furniture around for Presidents new desk. Plus Sister Waite fed us the sweetest breakfast. I already see many of those motherly benefits that the APs get from Sister Waite. She is wonderful. We cruised home and cleaned our apartment spotless and unpacked and stuff. This place looks sweet. I’m sure it is the cleanest apartment in the mission. It is located in the living center at MSU campus and is great. It already feels like home. Then we headed to the office at 12:30 and started figuring out some of our office duties. We went over the “AP Responsibilities” sheet and made some assignments for the month on who was going to do what. Boy, we have a lot to do. I worked on the (scoop sheet) Master Zone Car list for most of the day and got all of that set up. It will be pretty cool working on a computer a lot. I just want to figure out everything fast so that I can be a good Assistant. We finally got out of the office at about 8:00 and grabbed a quick dinner at Burger King so we could get out and do some proselyting. We got to proselyte from about 8:30 until 10:00 and we had a good time. We found some really good people that we will start teaching this next week. The Lord led us to some choice people. So basically we worked for 17 hours today. That is definitely my longest day in the mission field, but it feels so good to just be in the service of the Lord and to serve with all my time and energy and strength. Nothing feels better than knowing that I have accomplished the tasks assigned to me by the Lord this day. I am going to love serving here in the office.  Friday, May 20

The past two days have been great. Saturday we spent some time in the morning at the office and ran some errands for Sister Waite in the afternoon. She is expecting her mother and a few others from her family today so we were helping her prepare for that. Then we had to head to Midland for Stake Conference. We almost drove up about 45 minutes early, but instead we decided to do a bit of tracting to fill that extra time and I’m sure glad we did. We found an awesome guy named Bryan. We visited with him for about 20 minutes and have an appointment for the 1st discussion on Tuesday. It showed me once more how important that extra mile is in proselyting. When we do more than is expected of us, the Lord really helps us out in our work. Elder Busche shared a story about that in our missionary meeting this morning. He told about a city of about 40,000 in Germany that had been tracted out for 3 full years. Finally they were pulling the missionaries out of that city. The missionaries were in the train station and had about 30 minutes before the train left. The one missionary said, “let’s go tracting”. Well, the other one thought he was crazy and didn’t want to. The great missionary said, “lets do it anyway”. So they crossed the tracks and tracted out about 4 houses. On the last house, there was a man relaxing, tired from work, not wanting to be bothered when a knock came at the door. He told his wife to send whoever it was away. As she was doing this, the man heard an audible voice in the room which said, “This is the most important message you’ll ever hear in your life.” When his wife came back, he told her to call them back in. She did and he asked them what they had. And the missionary in tune with the spirit said, “This is the most important message you’ll ever hear in your life.” They had to run and grab their train so they couldn’t teach them, but soon that man was taught and baptized and became the leader of a good sized branch in that hard-hearted city. This teaches me that we must always go the extra mile and follow the spirit. There are angels on the other side that want to help us, but first we must be spiritual enough and committed enough to deserve that help and then it will come.

Now back to Saturday afternoon. We headed up to Midland and attended the 7:00 adult session. It was really good. A lot of Cheboygan people were there. Over the weekend, I visited with the Weiss’, Debbie Weiss, Jane Dewitt, Suzy Mercer, Truesdales, Volz, Williamstons, Eve Oneal, and Diane Bourrie. It was so great to see everyone. They are the greatest people. After the session, Olga took us all out to the Sweet Onion for dinner. She is such a loving and giving person. We had a fun dinner and then stayed over in Bay City. Sunday morning began with our missionary meeting at 8:30, and then the general session at 10:00. This was a landmark day for Midland. They split the Stake into the Midland Stake and now the Traverse City District. Also, Sault Ste. Marie was added to the Milwaukee District to strengthen the Upper Peninsula. President John D. Hoover is the Traverse City District President. I knew it would be him. HE is one of the most enthusiastic, spiritual, and loving men I have ever met. He will do a great job, but there is a lot of work to do in that district to prepare it to be a Stake. It was an exciting conference with all the changes being made. Plus it was great to hear from a General Authority. He taught me so much about love and power and the gospel. He started out saying, “I rejoice in Jesus Christ”. He did a fantastic job. After conference, we visited for a long time with everyone and got invited over to have dinner with the Ryders. They are a cool family. We also got the extra car from Sault Ste. Marie because they gave that area to the other mission and so we had to drive it over to Grand Rapids. Eric Johnsen drove all alone behind us in that car. We finally got back to East Lansing at 7:45. Our 8:00 appointment cancelled on us so we went and visited with Sister Waite’s family. We had a great time talking with them. It was a lot of fun. Her mother is 94 years old but she looks great. We finally started totals at 10:15, way too late, so we didn’t get done until midnight. This office schedule is crazy, but it feels good to be anxiously engaged in the Lords work. Sunday, May 22

AP life sure keeps me moving. P-day yesterday was pretty alright. We played some basketball, my first in 2 months. We also had to work in the office for a while as well even got some sweet proselyting in tonight. It was a fun day, but I am way sore from ball. Today we had the trial of our faith for this week. We did teach one guy the 2nd discussion. That went well, but the rest of the proselyting was pretty fruitless. Tuesday, May 24

Merry Christmas! This month is going by so fast - it needs to slow down. This was a great day out proselyting and in the office. We were in the office for most of it until about 5:00. Then we threw down some dinner and headed out among the people. We got about 19 Personal Contacts and found some good people to teach. We said prayers a couple different times asking Heavenly Father to allow us to teach and he definitely answered our prayers. The last door of the complex we were working in, we came across a Sunday School dinner party from the Trinity church. They invited us in and just asked questions for over an hour. There were 3 couples - Jeff and Elisa; Bryan and Karen; Paul and Mary. They asked really good questions and we did our best to answer them and we bore powerful testimonies a lot because we had to hit them with the spirit. And the spirit was definitely present. It was a really good experience for me. They were so nice. They even fed us pie. I just know that some of them felt the spirit and are going to call us to teach and baptize them. I pray so much that they will see how much more the gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer. I love this work and I know that it is true. Wednesday, May 25

Another great day. This morning before we went to the office, we practiced a song which we are going to sing in sacrament meeting on Sunday. The song is “How Great Shall Be Your Joy”. We are singing it with the University sisters, Blank and Reher. We worked in the office for a few hours and then got a lot of proselyting in. It was awesome. We taught Justine the 1st discussion and the spirit was very strong. She is from Camaroon and has been duped by a religious leader before who stole a bunch of money from his followers. So she is hesitant to commit but I’m sure she will come around. We will keep teaching her when her husband gets home. Her children were adorable also, I got a picture with her and her boy.

We did a lot of door knocking and finally found someone who is golden. We tried to follow the spirit as we were driving to a place to door knock. We felt led to make specific turns and ended up at an apartment complex. We were kind of distracted while we were working, talking about sports in between doors. Then we decided to say a prayer and get refocused. On our next door, we met a young couple by the names of Dai Wei and Li Qing. They are awesome people. We taught them the first discussion and it went very well. They want to know what they can do to follow Jesus. Dai Wei, who speaks limited English, said our closing prayer by following the four steps that we taught him. As he began with “My Father in Heaven”, the spirit was just so strong. It was awesome to hear his very first prayer and how excited he was about it. I wanted to go and give him a hug. We are teaching them again on Saturday. It is awesome to be serving with Elder Johnsen and Christofferson. It is nice to teach with veterans because all the pressure is not on me. But I can rely on them to teach the correct way. Because we all know what we are doing, the discussions always go smoothly and the spirit is always very strong. I love both of those guys. Thursday, May 26

The Lord just continues to bless us so much each and every day. I spent most of the day in the office. Elder Christofferson and Johnsen left for about 2 hours to go to a couple appointments. So I got a lot of things done there. Tonight we got to teach the 1st discussion to the Jamil family. They are Raj, Celina, and Angshoo. They are a great family and it was an excellent first discussion. The spirit was so strong and they recognized it. They asked some of the best questions. I think the are well on their way to entering the waters of baptism. It is so great to see how much the Lord blesses us because of our obedience and hard work. He truly is keeping his part of the covenant. I just need to continue to keep my part. This work is the greatest. In the office, we prepared a lot for Zone Conference by determining what areas we are going to focus on. Our big focus is on Obedience. I also made up an Obedience checklist that we will share with everyone. We will have a good ZLC and Zone Conferences. Friday, May 27

This week definitely ranks as one of the best weeks of my mission. We got some proselyting in and the Lord truly poured out his blessings upon us. Today, we taught Li and Dai the 2nd discussion and projected them for June 12. It was a very spiritual discussion, we all felt it strong. And they both asked some great questions and answered our questions very well also. It was the sweetest. I already love them both so much. Their faith is growing fast. Then we did some office work all afternoon and got some good things done. In our goals for this week, we needed one more discussion at 5:00. And the Lord blessed us once more as we were able to teach one of our call backs the 1st discussion. It turned out really great.

At the first of this week, on Monday morning, we set some goals that were very reliant upon our Faith because we only had a couple appointments set up. But we exercise our faith and set those tough goals and then set out to achieve them. Ether 12:6 definitely applies to our week because we went through a total trial of our faith the first couple of days. Everything was looking pretty bleak after Tuesday as far as accomplishing our goals for the week. Plus we had to be in the office most of the time each day. It’s not like we could go out and proselyte for 10 hours a day because of the necessary office work we have to do. But, because we exercised our faith, and because we are 100% obedient, and focused on the work, and because this is the Lords work, he blessed us immensely and we accomplished or exceeded all of our goals. The goals we set were high and here is what we accomplished.

35 Personal Contacts

7 Discussions

8 New Finds

2 Projected for Baptism

These were the exact goals we set except for New Finds, where we only set 5 as a goal. This was definitely one of the greatest weeks of my entire life. I have truly never been happier in my whole life because I am doing what the Lord would have be do and his spirit is with me all the time. I love my mission and the sweet experiences I have been blessed with. There is no place I’d rather be. (Even St. George, where my family is right now) Saturday, May 28

We had a good P-day today. We got to play some basketball, a game of softball, and we had a sweet barbecue over at President Waites house. It was a good Memorial Day. We had some of the Zone Leaders here tonight and me and Christofferson took Elder Howell out. Our appointment dogged us so we prayerfully went door knocking. We tried to go by the spirit where the Lord wanted us and we said an extra prayer asking him to help us teach. And on about the 6th door we got in and taught a 1st discussion to a very nice family. It was really awesome. Sunday was a good day also. Li and Dai attended church and really enjoyed it. All of us missionaries sang the song “How Great Shall Be Your Joy”. I think we did a good job. The student ward here at the Institute Building is pretty nice. I am going to enjoy it here. The whole day was pretty good. We got all ready for Zone Leader Conference and for Wednesday’s Grand Rapids/Muskegon Zone Conference. And we fulfilled our goal of proselyting every day and got some good PC’s as well. Monday, May 30

Today was Zone Leader Conference and it was a great one. We have some awesome leaders in the mission right now, some very powerful Zone Leaders. Our focus today was on Obedience and it went very well. We fixed up a sheet which set the Obedience standard as missionaries. So now every missionary will know what it means to be 100% obedient, and it will be much easier to find out where they need to improve. It is all laid out in front of them. President Waite talked for a long time about obedience and how if a missionary won’t be obedient, he will go home. It is the missionary’s choice, be obedient or go home. This is really going to help the mission so much. I feel good about this approach, and it is backed by the General Authorities. A few missionaries might go home, but many will straighten up and the mission as a whole will be much stronger. The spirit was very strong today and my testimony grew as did my knowledge and desire to serve and my love for the work. Also, President Ezra Taft Benson died yesterday at 2:45 SLC time. He was a great prophet and I love him a lot. He was really the only prophet that I have known because of my age when he became the prophet. But I know that he was a true prophet and I am grateful for all that he has done for the building up of the kingdom here on Earth. He is now back with his wife and all the prophets and with Jesus Christ himself. He has served our master well and will be greatly rewarded. I love and appreciate him. But work in the Lords kingdom will go on, because it is his work. Tuesday, May 31

It is already June, the time is going by way too fast. This was a pretty good day. We were in the office the entire day until evening. President and Sister Waite and Eric Johnsen were over at Grand Rapids for Zone Conference so it was just me and Christofferson. We had 3 appointments set up but none of them were home. We taught a new lady though, Shannon Major. She is way prepared for the gospel. It ended up being a good day. Wednesday, June 1

This was one of the longest days of my mission but it was sweet. I got up at 4:00 and got all ready for the day. President and Sister Waite picked me up at 4:45 and we headed up to Traverse City for Zone Conference. It was a fun trip. Sister Waite is just like Grandma Polson. She had a big sack of goodies for us to all snack on as we went. We got there at about 8:00 and had an excellent Zone Conference. There are only 14 missionaries up there, but they are some powerful ones. Elder Tuckfield is the Zone Leader and he is doing a great job. And the District Leaders are very powerful ones, Elder Stoker and Elder R. Wright. Elder R. Warren went to Alta, graduating in 1992, and is Tuckfield’s companion. He is awesome as well. It was good to be up North again and to be with a powerful zone. President Hoover was there, the new District President for Traverse City. He is truly one of my heroes. He spoke to us for about 45 minutes and he got me all pumped up. I love to hear him speak. He talked a lot about attitude and how vital our attitude is. We also heard talks from the 2 district leaders and of course President Waite took a long time on Obedience and other things. The spirit was with us all the day long. After Zone Conference, we had our Traverse City District Correlation meeting which went very well. President Hoover is not wasting any time but wants to get this District moving immediately. He has a lot of goals and plans and faith that they will come to pass. He is a man that I want to be like because he is like Jesus Christ. What a righteous man. Our drive home was long. We left at about 8:00 and stopped in Clare at the Big Boy for some dinner. It was good. A short time after we left Clare, President pulled over and I took over in the drivers seat. It was wonderful to just be with President and Sister Waite. They are so loving and caring. And so fun to be around. I got to know them a lot better because we were together all day. I love them both very much. They are doing an excellent job in their position and I am glad to be helping as an Assistant. Friday, June 3

This was a good day. It was President Benson’s funeral and we watched it by satellite here at the Stake Center. It was a very nice service. Elder Packer, Monson, Hinckley, and Hunter all spoke and did a fantastic job. It was very spiritual and reverent. We will miss that great prophet of the Lord. We did a lot of office work today and did some teaching. We read from the Book of Mormon with Li and Dai. They are so awesome. They are still progressing right along, and it is neat to watch that. The spirit there was very strong and we expressed our love to them after which Li said, “We love you too”. The spirit hit me so strong when she said that. Tears welled up. Everything still looks great for their baptism on June 12. Saturday, June 4

Church was great today. Li and Dai came again and stayed for the entire block of meetings. They met a lot of the members and I think they feel much more comfortable today. It was great. Sunday evening we taught them the 3rd discussion and that was sweet. They continue to soak the gospel right up. We have to teach them all the rest of the discussions this week, so the spirit has to be present to help them understand. But it is going well so far. We also watched “On the Way Home” and they enjoyed it. Especially when it showed them getting baptized. Their faces just lit up, their eyes got big, and they were intent on that screen. I love that show. Sunday, June 5

This was a great P-day. We had meeting at the office this morning and got our stuff done. Then we rented some rollerblades for the afternoon. It was so fun. The entire Lansing zone all rented them and we cruised around MSU campus jumping stairs, shooting down the ramps in the stadium, and having a blast. Tonight, Christofferson taught Li and Dai the 4th discussion with the Tufts. They said it went well. And Johnsen and I went to see the Jamils. Celina and Angshoo were there so we shoed them the Joseph Smith story cartoon. They both liked it and learned a lot. So we had a great evening. Monday, June 6

I don’t think I’ve had a bad day since I came to the office. We had to do a lot of work in the office the past 2 days. On Wednesday, we got talking to President about transfers and stuff and that took forever. But it is so cool to sit and talk with him. I don’t mind the office work much, as long as we continue to get out and teach in the evenings. We have been doing that and teaching some great people. The highlight, of course, was teaching Dai and Ching (she wants us to call her Ching and not Li from now on). We taught the fifth discussion and they totally loved it. We were kind of worried about their financial situation and tithing, but even if we asked for 50% of their income, I think they would agree to pay it. They are the greatest and they continue to just soak up the gospel. It is so fun to teach them. Our area continues to do well. We just need to get some more people into the baptizing and fellowshipping pool. Wednesday, June 8

Today was the Midland Zone Conference. President and Sister Waite picked me up at 7:00 and we headed to Midland. It is so fun traveling with them. Sister Waite had her goodies and President Waite had his jokes. We had a great day together. The Midland Zone needs to repent. There are a lot of goof offs up there and they distracted a lot from the meeting. But despite them, we had a good conference. Elder McMorrow is the Zone Leader. He was very nervous but he did a great job. Stake President Pulsipher spoke to us for about 90 minutes and talked about the plan of our Heavenly Father and how it has developed and continued since the creation of the earth. There really is a plan for all the things that have happened. And we also have individual plans for our own lives meaning that we are where we are for a specific purpose. I have been called to Michigan for special reasons, I must be worthy to always have the spirit so that I will find those reasons and fulfill my purposes. This is true while on my mission and throughout my life. Our whole purpose is to “Align with the spirit”. He challenged us to write a mission statement to determine why I am here. And also a vision statement to determine where I am going to be. He taught us many great principles. And the rest of conference was good also. It was a long one, but spirit filled. I also had to get up and wing a talk on Joseph Smith again, but I like to do that because it helps me to get better at speaking. We also had a good Stake Correlation meeting. I drove home again. What a sweet car. I listened to a tape for Mission Presidents with President Hinckley and Elder Packer on it. It was a great day. Thursday, June 9

Today, we taught 3 awesome discussions. This morning, we taught a new lady, Chris Bicknell. She has had a lot of contact with the church, good contact. And now she wants to get her life in order. She was taught a couple years back and almost joined, but a bunch of things got in her way. But now we will teach and baptize her. Christofferson was at the Lansing Zone Conference so me an Johnsen taught her. Then we did a bunch of work at the office until about 5:30. We worked on phone bills, they are the biggest pain to do. Some of the bills were outrageous. President is upset and a couple missionaries are in big time trouble. Tonight we got to teach Ching and Dai the 6th discussion and it went wonderful as usual. They are so fun to teach. Elder Miner then interviewed them for baptism and Johnsen and I went and taught the Jamil family. We only got through the first 3 principles of the 3rd discussion and it took us nearly 2 hours. They continue to progress slowly. They have developed testimonies of Joseph Smith and of the Book of Mormon, but they don’t want to limit themselves to one religion. But soon they will realize that their really is only one religion. Friday, June 10

I like it when I experience new things. Today we taught a man named Jim the first discussion in a coffee shop called Espresso Royale. When we called him a few days ago, he said to meet him there, so we did. He is a pretty cool guy and it was a pretty good discussion. With that discussion, we made it 10 for the week. That is one of the highest number I have ever taught in one week. That was our goal also, it sure felt good to accomplish it. Tonight we showed Ching and Dai the Joseph Smith Story cartoon. They really liked it. Then we showed them family pictures and just got better acquainted. They are so awesome. I can’t wait for their baptism tomorrow, and neither can they. They are learning so fast, they will be strong members. They cant wait to meet our parents when they come out either. That will be fun. Today we also had our transfer meeting. It was an awesome meeting. We begin with prayer and then just start moving people around on the board. As Aps, we have a lot more say that what I would expect. When I make a suggestion, it happens. President totally trusts us and our knowledge of the Elders and Sisters. So we just try to follow the spirit and give suggestions and everyone voices their opinion on it if they have one and if we are in agreement, the change is made. We are making a lot of changes this time. So we moved everyone around, wrote the changes down and then changed back. No we will all ponder and pray over the changes this weekend and finalize it all on Monday. Christofferson says that President Waite will come back with a lot of changes as he works it over . It was a neat experience to be a part of that meeting. Saturday, June 11

This was one of the sweetest days of my mission. It was the baptism of Ching Li and Dai Wei and it was so special. As I look back at how we met them and how their teaching went, it is obvious that the Lord has been preparing them for this day for a long time. We were totally led by the spirit in our initial finding of them. And it was one of the easiest teaching discussions I have been a part of. We first found them door knocking just 17 days ago, and now they are baptized. A 17 day conversion, and they went to church all 3 Sundays during that time, made some friends with the members, heard all the discussions, and most importantly developed a strong faith in Jesus Christ and a testimony of his restored gospel. It was such a privilege to teach them and to be a part of that conversion. And I had the opportunity to baptize Ching Li. It was so wonderful to watch their glowing faces as they came up out of the water. Ad as they received the Holy Ghost and were confirmed, they became even happier. The spirit was so strong and it was just a beautiful service. It is times like this that make it all worthwhile and give me a longing for it to never end. I do love this work with all my heart and wouldn’t trade my time as a missionary for anything in the world. And I have a great love for Ching and Dai. We have developed a friendship that will last forever throughout the eternities. And Dai will be a future leader of the church over in China. President Waite received that inspiration while in the circle confirming Dai. And then President took just a minute to talk about that. He was inspired I know because the Holy Ghost confirmed it to my heart. It was just a beautiful day, one I will never forget. After the baptism, we had a Priesthood meeting here in the Stake which was pretty good. Then we did totals over at the office. The mission is doing really well. We have had 20 baptisms in the first 2 weeks of June and the rest of the month is looking good as well. I thing we should get 50 baptisms this month. We need to get that many and then maintain it as a standard for the mission and then raise the standard again. But before all that, we just need to hit 50 baptisms this month. I think we can do it. Sunday, June 12

We hardly had any time to do anything today on our P-day, but it was still a good one. We played basketball over at the church and it was so fun. Most of our day was spent in the office. We had our office meeting at 8:30, then we finalized transfers with President until about 12:00. We made a few changes from Saturday, and we all feel better about them now. We are making about 30 transfers or so. I think they are all good. At 12:30, we went and taught Chris Bicknell the 2nd discussion. It went so well. The spirit was strong and she is just golden. We projected her for June 26 so we will have another baptism in June. I am excited as heck. She has been prepared well to join the church at this point in her life. There was no hesitation when I invited her to be baptized. I love it when we sacrifice a little bit and then see the blessings that come. The discussion just made my day. Sweet, another baptism coming up. Monday, June 13

I only have 4 months from today left on my mission. That is crazy. It is going so fast. Today was the Kalamazoo Zone Conference so President and Sister Waite and Elder Christofferson were there. Me and Johnsen had to just get ready for transfers tomorrow. Much of my day was spent figuring out the transportation schedule for the Action Van as well as those that will have to ride the bus. I think I’ve got it worked out pretty good. We decided to use the Action Van to complete as many transfers as possible by driving around the mission. It is going to save us a ton of money. Tonight we stopped by to see Dai and Qing and showed them a Book of Mormon cartoon video. They are still doing awesome. Everything is going good here. The next few days are going to be hectic. Transfers, here we go. Tuesday, June 14

Transfer call day. We were up at 5:30 and at the office by 6:50. We had our prayer, finished up a couple of transfer moves and then started making calls. President calls them and announces the transfer and then we get on and tell them the travel plans. It took us about 2 hours to make all the calls. I think everyone sounded pretty happy about the changes and I feel good about them all. After we got them all done, Christofferson and Johnsen went and picked up the 2 new mission cars from Campus Ford. They are Ford Escorts, both with about 10 miles on them. We get to keep the blue one. It is awesome driving around a brand new car. While they were gone, I was bombarded with phone calls. I constantly had someone on the phone and someone on hold for me. So as soon as they got back, we got out of the office and headed over to President’s house. He cooked us waffles there, I ate about 8 of them. It was awesome, and then we took a little 30 minute nap. Then we headed home and Christofferson started to pack until 3:45. We cruised out to the airport to pick up the greenies at 4:10. It was cool to pick them up and to spend the rest of the day with them. We took them back to the office and Elder Jenks and Elder Wilson gave them some orientation. Then I went through the New Missionary packet with them and got all the necessary paperwork take care of. And by that time, they were starving so we got them over to Sister Waite for dinner. It was an awesome dinner, of course. Then we had a sweet testimony meeting and after that we had a little meeting with President and made the assignments of where they will go tomorrow. It was a wonderful day, but very tiring. And tomorrow will be the same. It was really neat to watch the greenies and to see their insecurity yet excitement about the work. It seems like just yesterday when I was in their shoes. It was weird to be on the other side of that process this time with the new missionaries and with the transfer calls. I love being an assistant, so many choice opportunities are ours. It was awesome. Wednesday, June 15

Today was definitely an experience. This was our transfer day and I was the driver of the Action Van for moving people around. It was pretty cool but it was a long day. The van’s air conditioning wasn’t working, so it was a hot and muggy day also. I started out at 7:15am after a quick breakfast at Sister Waites. We first went up to Saginaw where I dropped off Jenkins and picked up Harman. Then in Midland, I dropped off Christofferson and 3 greenies and picked up Hunsaker, Izatt, and Adam. Then I picked up Moore in Mt. Pleasant. Then we cruised over to Muskegon and dropped off Hunker and Adam, and picked up Hall. Then to Grand Rapids where Harman got off and B. Johnson, Powell, and Calhoun got on. In Kalamazoo, I dropped off Sister Walker, Powell and Moore. Then over to Battle Creek where I left Izatt. Then it was back to Lansing. The Jackson Elders met me there to pick up their new guys because I was running short on time. And all the other companions met me there at the office also to get their new companions. Overall, I drove 450 miles today. It was quite the road trip but it save the mission tons of money. It cut out 22 bus tickets. So it was definitely a worth while trip. I was glad to do it. Tonight was the departing missionaries evening. I missed the dinner because of all the other things I was taking care of. But I was there for the testimony meeting. The missionaries who departed are Biehler, Larsen, B. Johnson, and Butterfield. None of them were powerful missionaries and it was a weak meeting. The spirit wasn’t anything like last months meeting. Also, there were only like 5 people there to support them. I guess, by their fruits shall ye know them. Thursday, June 16