Some big news! So this past week was great. We did a lot of service actually, and it was a very exhausting week. Anyways. So President came down Thursday to district meeting. Gosh I was so nervous for it. Him and Sister Anderson were both there, but it ended up going great. So after he pulled Elder Kelley off to the side and then me. We both got called to train and we are splitting Hazleton! We are super excited and it will be very interesting to see how the work goes. So I'll be taking the West while he takes the east. We will all be in the same apartment for a couple weeks until Elder Wilson finds us a new apartment. So that is what is going on! We go to transfers tomorrow and will have some training. We will stay over night I believe in Philly and then pick them up Wednesday. Also, another cool thing is so A, the guy we gave the blessing to for his back, told us yesterday that ever since then he has gone to the doctor and his back is getting all back to normal. He has had issues with it for years and now finally it is much better. So that was real cool. This next week is going to be very busy and trying to find new people with my Golden. It's weird that I am training now like I feel like I just got done with mine. The stake president came down actually for some other business. It was for callings and all that but we are still working towards a branch. O did not get baptized. Keep him in your prayers. He was not able to come to church but we will see him Wednesday. Well me and my golden and I'll talk to him to see what is going on. So interesting week. 

I can't believe she (McKenzie Moline) is home. It is crazy all the people that are all home now and now I'm out here. It's funny how you find those people. Cause you do and I have definitely seen that. I bet she has some great stories, and I know all of us will. I look back on some of my journal and look at the what I have already experienced and what I used to be struggling with but now I am not. It helps you grow a lot. I would never discourage anyone from serving a mission.

It has been nice! There is one lady here who I seriously thought was Sister Andrus' sister. We ate at their house the other night to it. It's the M family. They have a beautiful home. She made an amazing homemade cherry pie with some ice cream. Brother M just got called to be the new ward mission leader. He will do great. 

 

This is probably the hardest and most stressed I've been. I thought school work was a lot and it is but this is just 24/7. You fall asleep at night and wake up sometimes just feeling like you have not slept and you can't just go back to sleep. Got to get up and exercise and then get ready for the day. Luckily I feel like I have adjusted to that well because we get to bed on time and everything.

Well I'll let ya know how my Golden (brand new missionary) is and all that and I love you too! Excited for Skype! I feel like we just did and now it is coming up so soon. Talk to ya soon! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

Hey Mom! 

I am sure that was a little interesting getting a call from me for sure. Not too much longer till Mother's Day! I feel like I just skyped y'all like it is weird. Time flies. Yeah thank goodness Elder Wilson talked them down to 50 bucks! We will definitely watch out where we park. We actually are having it (baptism) this Saturday. President has to come up tomorrow for the interview and everything but he told us he should be fine. He just has to do it. So even though this week was slow because I was down, we still managed to have like 15 lessons and we set another lady with a date. We had a lesson with her and she had read and everything and just said she knows it is true. She has lots of members in her family as well which is nice and she is so great. She is an older Dominican lady. Well about in her 60's I would say. Also we were able to get back in contact with someone we had lost contact with for about a week so that was good. That big family actually all received the Priesthood this week and did that sacrament and all of that. We are also having out Stake President and one of his counselors down next Sunday. They are talking about making us a branch and actually bringing some more members down from Scranton and combining them. That would be so awesome. So we shall see. President will be doing that next transfer because he is super busy right now with figuring out transfers. So soon enough. I bet Lizzy gave a great talk. That is so weird that she is giving talks now. I did not give my other talk yet in the English branch but I will next week probably. I have found it is much easier to write a talk now hah. So that was our week basically. It also is warming up just a little which feels nice! 

Yeah we have our iPads now. They are brand new and we got new cases and everything. You will find out more later. That was all we did this past zone training was set them up. It will be nice I think to keep them after the mission and it is great that we are learning now how to use them better so we don't just get thrown right back into the world and all of a sudden have one again. 

It (Scripture reading) is coming good. I am in 2 Nephi again and finished up Genesis just about. It has slowed down because I have had others things I have had to do for personal study and stuff but it is still coming a long great. I hope to finish the Book of Mormon maybe 4 times before I end my mission. I just have learned a whole lot more than I have ever known before. 

It was a great interview and I could not have asked for a better mission president. He has such a great sense of humor but it serious when it comes to it. And Sister Anderson is the nicest lady you'll meet for sure. They really care so much about all of the missionaries. Being District leader has helped me learn how to be a little bit more of a leader and take initiative in things. It's nice. 

I have lost I think like 10 pounds because of being sick and all of that though. It has been great to see and talk to him (Jake, aka Elder Weisler). We talked for a bit last time at Zone Training about everything. He is doing great. It'll be great to see and hang out with him after everything. 

 

Yeah we had a bunch of ice. That organ is the biggest in the world. The guy that played that is a genius. We talked to him for a bit and we were going to have him play a hymn but he ran out of time. I do miss that about being in the city. Megan sent me some pictures of where they are at which is super nice. Of course. 

I feel better than I did but Sister Anderson said she thinks it was the flu. Idk. I just hate medicine and everything. Yeah it is like in the 40s today which feels very nice. 

Yeah I definitely feel now that I just always need to be doing something. It can be very stressful for sure and all of that but you just gotta keep going.  As time goes on I find it easier since I can communicate better which the people. Thank goodness! Haha well I'll be thinking about what I want and all that and I love you and will talk to ya soon mom! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

Hey Mom! 

It has been a great week. We just missed out on a little bit of time from meetings and stuff but it was still a very busy week. He has not come up yet but it will be soon. We will find out at transfers about getting another set.  I actually did not give a talk this past Sunday because it was fast Sunday. We are in a store front but if we get 75 English and 75 Spanish people coming consistently then they will build a chapel. I would say with in the next year or so that could happen for sure. Yeah the iPads will be great! We get them tomorrow. 

Well this week was very busy! We found a couple new people and just had some cool experiences. The baptism went super well! They are such a great family and are a huge asset to the Spanish group. It is only growing and growing. We have another baptism this weekend and then I think one more next weekend. There is lots of work going. We had great interviews last week with President. He was just talking about how the District leader position and all that. I just am trying my best and working hard.  We have lots of lessons but the best was with this less active A. Awesome Dominican but we teach him in English. To make it short we left him with a scripture in Alma 32 I believe it was about acting on your faith and committed him to read it right after we leave so he said ok. So we were driving home and just pulling into our apartment place and we get a call from him. We were thinking oh no what did we leave. Well he calls and we talk. He ended up telling us he understand the message we were trying to get across and how much it touched him. How he said he realizes if he wants to get anywhere he has to start coming back to church. We just sat in the car after and were like wow what a miracle. We had not even planned to leave that with him. It was a great week.  So it turned out being a great week and Rthat new member is such a help. 

Ha I just find being obedient is just so much better. We all slack off but I do try my hardest and have been reading the white handbook more recently. I just think about Nephi and all the blessing he received from being so obedient.

I have not been to a mall in forever. There is a nice one in a place called Wilkes-Barre. That is where we had the baptism. They have a big chapel there. 

I feel like time has been flying. I feel like we just Skyped. And then conference is coming up soon again. 

I have not yet but soon. Yeah I loved that chocolate covered stuff! That's for sure. And the video was so great ha I did not realize Josh was in it. That's crazy. So exciting! So many going out and so many coming home. 

Well that should be an interesting calling. I think as a stake or something here their goal is a million names for this year indexed. That's a ton! But it is very important. We are still working with some people to get them to the temple so we shall see. 

Those are some great quotes. All the prophets are just very special and inspired men for sure. I am very excited to here President Monson and all the apostles speak. They are great men and I love learning more and more about them. I feel like there has been so much more that I have learned being out here. Probably the most reading and everything I have done in my life but it has been a good thing. I'm trying to switch over to just reading Spanish soon as well. I read a lot in that now which helps a ton. Well I do finally have my camera and the cord to send pictures so I shall send some. I love you very much mom! I will talk to ya soon. 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

Hey Mom! 

This week did go by very fast. It was busy and a great week. I heard about that storm! Sounds like fun. I love ice storms though haha. We got a little snow this past week actually but nothing too bad. I do love the mountains that is for sure! Especially with all the snow. 

Well we have some pretty solid investigators. The ones that are getting baptized and a couple other with baptismal dates. Our less actives are doing ok. Some basically just say they don't want to come to church right now because of the cold which is dumb, but we had some great lessons. We went on splits but since our district isn't all Spanish like before I don't have someone who can help teach haha. It went totally fine though because I feel like I'm at the point now with my Spanish that I can teach without stumbling too much. I also have a talk and taught this lesson this week for the Spanish group and Elder Wilson put me down for a talk for English next Sunday. I definitely did miss driving and our days are just packed. I believe we are the highest in numbers in the whole mission right now. President Anderson is actually coming out to teach with us sometime soon cause he wants to see how our day is. We are asking for another set of missionaries up here because there is a lot of work to be done. We actually have interviews with him today, and we will talk to him about when. So it has been a great week for sure. Had some great lessons and I think I told you about the new member R that moved in who is a return missionary. He is Dominican and 23 years old. Super awesome guy and is going to help us out. We did have that big meeting which was super awesome. So we had Elder Allen from the 5th quorum of the 70 and Elder Evans from the 1st. Super great men and so they gave us training on what all is about to change. They are updating all the technology and now 80 missions around the world are going to be doing this. We start next week. We will be getting all new iPads that we will have to buy now and also I will be able to keep it when I go home. They will just have to change a few things so it will go back to a normal iPad. We are the first to receive them and get that training. It will start only becoming better and better and more ways for us to work. We are all pretty excited to see how this will go. However, if you only have 6 months left then you will not buy it and all that because of other reasons. So it was a very great conference and got to see everyone since it was the whole mission. Elder Park told me that R is now the young men's president which is super awesome and that they are doing great. He is training now but I think I told you. I also saw Elder Newbold and he is coming in tomorrow to do our baptismal interviews. It was real good to see him. Pretty hectic week and this week is crazier because we have interviews and planning the baptism and all that good stuff. 

 

It has been so awesome to be serving around Jake or Elder Weisler ha. I talked to him more yesterday and we are still just like so surprised we are here together. We were talking about how our districts are doing and all that. He is going to be a great missionary.  I started talking to him in Spanish yesterday and he just kept saying si si si. I also saw Elder Hillstead of course. Haha it would be so awesome if me and him served as companions. It was fun just serving in the same district. 

I feel like I need to write some letters so I'm gonna do that soon.

Time in the mission is different though for sure. 

I love those quotes. It is funny cause a great quote I have learned from a new member here names P who I heard so much about from Elder Newbold cause Elder Newbold started his mission here. He always tells our investigators or anyone who does not feel like prayer that a day without prayer is a day without blessing. I think it is so great cause then they just say it. I love the Prophets and all of our general authorities. The power that comes from them talk is so touching and you can just tell and feel they are called of God.

Well I love you mom and I will talk to you again soon! I'll let you know how the baptism goes and everything. I think President and Sister Anderson might come up so that'd be super cool. Well again I love you! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur 

Hey Mom! 

Yeah last night at about 3 a.m. it got down to -3 with a wind chill of -36. Very cold! Thank you so much for the package and I liked all the little notes. I love it all of course.  Elder and Sister Wilson are the best. Yeah I did need at least one more pair so thank you for all of that stuff. It is nice up here. Beautiful mountains. Especially with all of the snow. 

Hazelton is great. We are teaching a ton. Lots and lots of work to be done here. We are teaching over 20 lessons a week. We have 8 people with a baptism date that are progressing and will make their date. One is a family of 9 and that have a couple that are too young still. The other is O. He is awesome. The work is only growing. Our Spanish group should turn into a branch soon enough which will be so awesome. I'm loving it here, and we have members who are so ready to work. Brother J is over the Spanish group. He is white but served a Spanish speaking mission and still kept it with him, and it has definitely come in handy with all of this. We go on splits with him and P who is a new member every Saturday now. Me and Elder Kelly are doing great. He is awesome. He is actually going to give me a voice lesson cause I asked if he would haha. It should be interesting. So I saw Jake again! Cause we are in the same Zone so we had Zone training and me and him did a role play together. He was telling me how crazy it is we are here together and I gotta come see him after the mission and all that. It's been great to see him again. He is also a district leader and will be such a great missionary. Well already is. Also I am serving around people I haven't seen in a bit either so it's nice. We have to drive about an hour though to get to Zone training. Next Monday the whole mission is getting together because we have some general authorities coming in for some big thing. So we are all very excited about that. It's nice to be in a car and driving again. I am the senior companion. I feel like I might be training next transfer though as well. We are getting lots of Spanish missionaries. What is funny though is that we just switched zones when I came in from Reading to Scranton. If we stayed in Reading then Elder Newbold would have been my Zone leader. It'll be good to see him again. I love the guy. I learned a lot, and he really helped me. So we are doing great here. Just trying to figure out all this district leader stuff! Also just finding lots of new people to teach. Like last night we went to a wrong address but ended up finding a family to teach. So we will see how it goes. 

Sounds like the new mission president is awesome. I remember the sisters in my district from the MTC talking about him. Cause that's where they went. That is crazy though! Just following President Durrant. It was cool to see him give the closing prayer at the end of the Christmas Devotional I believe it was. It'd be cool to meet him when I return. Yeah I left a plaque with R and A and also with J. They are just so awesome. I can't wait till you all can come and meet them. It would be awesome if Daniel and Jordan were able to come up. All of The Districts are real for sure. Those missionaries are super awesome. We watch a lot of those here. We use them in our training. 

We are working with people on family history as well. Some get really excited about it honestly, and it is a great way to help them get excited about the temple. 

I definitely like all of those quotes, but that first one a lot. I've never been so worried about other people I feel like and what I can do to help them progress and be happier. Just seeing the change it brings to people is huge.  Some people just get so offended so easily and stuff. Everyone really just needs to be aware of that because it can be just a huge downfall. 

That (patriarchal blessing) would definitely be good for her (Megan) to have. I know I have read mine a lot and seen things that have come to pass. It is a very special and sacred thing to have. I never really understood the meaning of it I felt like until I got out here. It's like my eyes have been opened up and I see things a lot differently than before. But I am so grateful for that. 

I did! Lol I saw it (Krispy Kreme) and we had to turn around. Elder Tryon was driving. We said all of our fat senses just kicked in lol. Well I love you mom and I'll will talk to ya again soon! Talk to ya soon and thank you for the package again! 

Love, 

Elder McArthur