Cassidy's Letter July 14, 2014

Well here we are again....

This week was pretty good! Kirtland was busy and when we were in our area we were crazy busy so it flew right on by! But people are making some cool progress and I met some awesome people at Kirltand!

Let's just start with Michael because he is the coolest part of my mission right now. So last Monday night he texted us and said that baptism keeps jumping out at him in the Book of Mormon.. and he told us that God is trying to tell him something. Which was SO cool. Then Tuesday we had dinner with him and some members of our ward, and it went super good! His biggest concern is not fitting in or having people not like him.. but the dinner went great and now he said he thinks he is ready to come to church. Then we had an AMAZING lesson with himon Saturday night. So he is done with Alma already... in 2 weeks he has read like almost 400 pages in the Book of Mormon. So crazy. He is about to pass me. But anyways he told us that he can see the way the Book of Mormon is changing his life. He said that he can even tell at work.. because he told us that he has this boss that is always super mean, and he said he used to just wish that she would leave or he would get mad and resent her.. and he said that lately he has been praying for her and hoping that whatever is making her feel like that will change. And he said it all because he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying. And he can see that it is making him a better person. IT IS SO COOL. Because I mean I know that it can and will change people when they read it.. but it is really amazing to have someone we are teaching actually see that happening to themselves.  He really is a dream come true. I have been hoping to teach someone like him my whole mission... and I am just so happy it is finally happening! He is a miracle. Also, if you guys could just be there when he prays.... it is the best. If I ever doubt why I am on a mission... I just remember him praying and thanking God that He told me to knock on his door... and I realize that this is all so worth it. Keep praying Michael will keep loving the Book of Mormon and that he will love church!

Sister Portz gave us some really good advice this week that I would like to share with all of you. She told us, 

"Next time you little missionaries hit a possum, take it in and you can get TWO muskrats for it. And that will feed your family for at least a week. Trust me." 

I am just hoping we hit a possum soon so I can get me some muskrat. I have ALWAYS wanted that.

Last Wednesday was probably one of the hardest days of my entire mission. Or life. We had 5 full tours at Kirtland... so that means we were giving tours for like 10 hours... do you know how hard it is to be up all day and be the center of attention for that long? It is so exhausting. We got like two 14 minute breaks to throw a granola bar in our mouths and then we had more people there for us... I thought I was going to die! It was like 7:30 at night and I was the walking dead... and then they called us to take another group... and I was almost about to cry... when we had the COOLEST tour ever. It was so much fun. It was this awesome family from Denmark and a family from Dubai! The family from Denmark became my new best friends. Literally they want me to come visit them in Denmark when I am off my mission... so that is definitely happening. They told me that when I meet them I better say "Newel K Whitney, Thou art the man!" That is like the tagline of Kirtland. I have said that phrase so many times it is almost uncomfortable. There are some tours when I just can't even get myself to say it... and if I don't someone asks about it and I have to say it anyways. It is inevitable. Newel really must have been the man. But anyways the tour was so much fun. They were really funny, and it totally made my whole day. It was such a blessing because it made the hardest day of my life end super awesome.

Thursday and Friday are both like a blur... all of the tours and people kinda mesh together. We took one youth group and we had a cool experience in the School of the Prophets. We had them all go around and in one word tell how they have felt the Savior's love, and it was really neat to see how we all feel his love differently, but we all feel it. And I think that is the best thing ever. Knowing that Christ knows us each perfectly and loves us each perfectly. And I know being a missionary I feel His love all the time for myself and for others. I am just kinda constantly amazed at how much He loves us all.

Anyways  Friday was my 10 month birthday and I celebrated with Ice cream don't even worry.  Oh guess what else happened Friday... a McDonalds opened in the town we live in... and it was the scariest thing ever. At 9:30 at night there were at least 100 people there.. and there were bouncy houses and practically a fair... for McDonalnds. I was and still am baffled. I must really be out in the boonies if people are that excited about fast food........  Only in Ashtabula.

It is crazy that I have been a missionary for so long. It is really amazing to look back and see how much I have learned. I feel like a totally different person as far as my knowledge of the Gospel and my faith in it. I knew it was true before... but now I actually understand how it can change people's lives. And I have learned so much about the Book of Mormon and I have seen so many miracles. I am just super grateful for all the experiences I have had. I can't even imagine my life without serving a mission, and I don't want to. This whole experience has already changed how I want to live the rest of my life so much and I know I will forever be happier because I am doing this. And I am really happy I still have 6 months because I have a lot more to learn and a lot more people to find!

Good news Gerald is still doing good. He has still been coming to church, and ARP, and he is making lots of friends. Yesterday he didn't even really talk to us because he has so many new friends which is exactly how it should be! I am really happy to see how much this is blessing his life.  We are teaching him the Law of Chastity tonight with the Portz... that will be the most interesting experience of my mission. Maybe I should film it. We were at the Portz's house practicing with them... and Sister Portz (Okay I will at least get a picture tonight so you guys can fully understand why they are so hilarious) said to her husband "Maybe you can wear some shorts to the lesson so Gerald can know that he can wear shorts that aren't super short but are still modest.." and I was just like... what? It's not like Gerald is wearing short shorts. Also, I never want Brother Portz to wear shorts. Also... they have a cat clock that meows every hour... and they also have cat ICE CUBES. I mean if they aren't crazy cat people I have no clue who is.  Oh and yesterday at church Sister Portz had her shoes off and was sitting cross legged in the front of the class... it was so classic.

I love the crazy people here. I honestly don't think there are people this funny anywhere else in the world. Hopefully I am not turning into any of them...

Well my time is up and I have to get going. Pray for me this week. We are serving at Kirtland 4 days in a row... it might be the hardest week of my mission.. hahah no it will be really good but also really hard. SOOO if you get really bored (and even if you don't) and you want to write me a letter (I would be the happiest person in the world) send it to the visitor center! The address is:

7800 Kirtland-Chardon Road
Kirtland, Ohio 44094

Okay well have a great week! I love you all!

Love Cassidy

Pictures from Cassidy 7-7-14

Top photo: Cassidy and Bridgette
Middle photo: Cassidy with Bridgette and Carol
Bottom photo: Cassidy with other sister missionaries she works with

Cassidy's Letter July 7, 2014

Hello..... Guess who hits 10 months this week.... THIS GIRL. Yeah can we believe that I have been a missionary for 10 months? No. Not possible.

Time is going SO FAST. And this week we were serving at the visitor center for about a billion days and we had like 5 meetings the other days so I really feel like not too much happened so this might be a shorter letter.... which I am sure you will love haha. But with the time we did have there were some pretty awesome things that happened!

I will skip straight to the best part. MICHAEL. So yeah he is basically just so solid and awesome. We met with him on the Forth of July... and he shot off fireworks when we arrived.. definitely the only time on my mission that I have received such an extravagant welcome. Then we had an awesome lesson. He had read even more of the Book of Mormon and he loves it. He told us that once he reads and knows it is true he will get baptized! He told us that the last time he met with missionaries.. he really wasn't at a place where he was ready to change his life and accept the Gospel. But he said now he is. He said that his marriage is now strong enough that he knows he can do this for himself and it won't hurt his marriage. He basically said that he knows this is what he needs to do, and he is ready to do it. SO COOL. It is really awesome because he recognizes how this is helping him change his life.. and he is listening to that voice that told him to keep meeting with us! It has really strengthened my testimony in the Lord's timing. That there are people who aren't ready now.. but someday will be. And I am grateful that Michael is ready now and that we get to help him! So we had an awesome lesson on Friday... and then yesterday he texted us and told us that he read like over 50 more pages of the Book of Mormon and that he loved what it taught about baptism and repentance. It is crazy how fast he is progressing. He is just awesome.

Also Gerald is progressing like a champion too. Yesterday he came to all 3 hours of church, stayed for a baptism, and then came to a fireside that was an hour away. Yeah... that is a LOT of church in one day for someone who hasn't even been to church in 20 years... but he loved it! He told us that while he was at the baptism he felt a strong sense of peace. We got to teach him that it was the spirit and it was awesome. He is really just a genuinely nice guy who needs a lot of help in life... but he is willing to get the help. It was super funny he had read somewhere that we don't eat meat...  and he said "That is going to be a problem because I have to start my day with pig." hahah it was so funny. And I got to break the good news that we did eat meat and he was a happy camper. His biggest obstacle is definitely going to be smoking though. He had to leave church like 5 times to go smoke... which is the saddest thing ever. It really breaks my heart that people are so addicted to something that they can't even enjoy church without having to feed their addiction. DON'T EVER SMOKE PEOPLE. Gerald has smoked enough for us all. Let's just all pray that he can quit! I know he can it will just be a matter of if he wants it bad enough or not. I am praying he does! 

Also, during the Sacrament yesterday he said "Wow there are a lot of guys here who are older than me who have a lot more hair than I do..." SO loud the whole building heard him. Good times.

We had a really good lesson with Bridgette and Carol again this week! And get pumped because I actually remembered to get a picture this time. Bridgette said some classic comments like "We are going to watch the fireworks at dawn. Oh no not dawn... dust." hahah dust? So funny. And she started calling us her "foxy girls" no clue what that one means. And then during the closing prayer (they like to stand in a circle and hold hands) Bridgette like locked fingers and was holding my hand so tight I almost lost my fingers. But they actually both really enjoyed the Restoration. After I read Joesph Smith's fist vision.. Carol said "Wow, I just got goosebumps. That was beautiful." and I was like.. yeah and it is true so it is even better. When she said the closing prayer she said the sweetest thing about how what we are teaching her is really helping her and how she is so grateful that God sent us into her life. It was the best.

My best friend Gene is doing good! We did service with him one night this week and literally I carried like 18 trees from his backyard. And then he showed us the funniest video in the world. So Gene has all of these CRAZY stories... like they almost seem too funny to be real. So last week he told us this story about how this crow would come and fly in and land on his shoulder at work.. and so he named it Pete and they became good friends. And it was hilarious.. but also I didn't fully buy it... so he showed us a SELIFE video he took (keep in mind his is like in his 60s so he is this older guy) and he has this massive crow on his shoulder... and he is petting it and saying "This is my baby. We are having a really good time together" and it is a selfie video and I was laughing so hard. I am trying to figure out how I can get a copy of it because I am positive it would be a youtube sensation. And as far as the Gospel goes... we are making serious progress. We actually "knocked out" as he said, one of his major concerns. That has never happened. And he will say prayers with us now an d he never would before! And he is believing in God and praying to him and thanking Him for letting us come teach him... it is so cool. I feel like half the reason I am here in Ashtabula is for Gene. He will accept the Gospel just you wait.

Nothing too crazy happened at testimony meeting yesterday... I think the weirdest thing I heard was the phrase "Coffeoholic". We saw one crazy lady yesterday who gave us some great advice... she said "Don't get married... but if you do buy a bat... and hang it over your front door... and tell your husband that if he does anything you will beat him with it." and I was like... uh.... no. But thank you for the wonderful advice? Now I know why she is no longer married... haha. But really she was crazy. The other old lady we saw said (sidenote apparently recently someone broke into her house and stole stuff) "I am buying a gun. And if anyone comes into this house... I will shoot. And when I shoot.. I will shoot to kill." Splendid. I am starting to think that I am hanging out with crazy murderers. I should probably be concerned. 

We had a miracle this week. And yes it had to do with steak. So it was the forth of July... and we had nowhere to go for dinner and we were pretty depressed about it (okay not really but it was just slightly disappointing) anyways.. it was the afternoon and we went to visit this old lady at the nursing home.. and all this weird stuff happened so we were there longer than normal... and while we were walking out we ran into this lady from our ward.. and she invited us to dinner. And then at dinner we had the best grilled steaks ( I haven't had steak in literally like 5 months people so I was excited.... ) and homemade pie and I was in heaven. So there you have it Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and eat good food.  Oh And I didn't see a single firework... apparently I am too far in the middle of nowhere or something? Oh well better luck next year. haha.

Kirtland was busy and good! We took lots of really great tours. We have been getting a lot of families from all over the place which is fun. I had one kid who literally kept bringing up Pokemon... and he was like 16... it was concerning. And there was this one couple who was trying to take US on tour... like we would try to say something and they wouldn't let us talk. It was super weird. But most of our tours were good! It is tough work though. And It is hard always living out of a suitcase. I realized the other day that I haven't slept in the same bed for more than 4 nights in over TEN MONTHS. That is a lot of packing and moving and sleeping in random places. And we have to pack like our whole lives and fridges every time we come. It is exhausting. My mission is just weird sometimes. But it is worth it.

That is basically the story of a mission. It is worth it. It is hands down the best thing I have ever done. I am having a blast and seeing lots of miracles! It is becoming more and more evident to me that God really knows and has a super perfect plan for everyone. It is so fun to see how things work out and come together.. and how the people who have faith in God and his plan are always happier. Period. I see it every day with my investigators and with the members I work with. And nothing in the world could convince me that this Gospel isn't true and that it doesn't change lives, because I see it do that every single day.

I love you. Have a fun week :) Thanks for the letters you guys are the best.

Love Cassidy

June 30, 2014 Letter from Cassidy

Hello! 

Let me see... what happened this week... Went to my first ARP meeting, had 2 people come to church, ate hotdogs with Amish, and taught the Gospel outside while a bunch of fireflies flew around us. So yeah, things are GOOD. 

First of all... Gerald AND Gene came to church yesterday. It was awesome. Last week Gene came in a blue shirt and tie.. and he told me he felt like he "stuck out like a blue thumb" so yesterday he came in a new white shirt and tie. It was funny. Gerald said it was the first time he had been to church in over 20 years... so huge step! And he really enjoyed it! His biggest concern was he couldn't figure out the hymn book.... easy concern. haha. 

Also... Gerald came to the addiction recovery class and we went too for moral support. When it was my turn to introduce myself I almost said "Hi I am Sister Jensen and I am addicted to ice cream".. but I am really not ready to give that addiction up. haha. Anyways Gerald has been smoking since he was 13 years old... now he is 50. But he has a real sincere desire to give it up because he knows it will really bless his life. The teacher is a professional drug and alcohol counselor so the class was great. It is neat that the church has such great resources to help people completely change their lives. But it is really fun to teach Gerald. He soaks it all up like a sponge. His life has been such a mess and he is already noticing differences since he started meeting with us.. and it is really amazing how him just doing small things like reading the scriptures and praying has already made such a huge impact on his life. Definitely has strengthened my testimony of the power of living the Gospel. We took the Portz to teach him again... and it was just as funny as the last time. We were in the middle of the lesson and all the sudden Sister Portz goes "Gerald do you have any medical problems?" I was like... what? Who just asks that? Especially when I am in the middle of bearing my testimony about the plan of salvation? Then she went off on this long thing about how he is the patriarch of his home... and then she started talking about polygamy.. and I was just hitting myself in the head with my scriptures. Good thing is I think they were so confusing that it all went over Gerald's head. And now we have some good things to laugh about haha. 

Gene is doing so good. He has come such a long way since when I first met him. He was always so confused about things like.. even just who God is and if he even existed. Now he knows that God is our father and it is awesome to hear him pray to him and talk about Him. And Gene literally has the funniest stories ever. Teaching him is too much fun. So he didn't really like the music at church.. and so I made him sing what he wanted.. and he started singing a song about hot dogs and he claimed it was a church song.. I was dying of laughter. Also, I did attend a "chicken sale" this week...  it is like a yard sale... but chickens... (yeah where the heck am I ?) and the Amish were having hot dogs. So I got to eat hot dogs with Amish children. Never thought I'd be doing that. And I never thought the Amish could make such good hot dogs. Who knew? 

Kirtland was crazy this week. It is getting crazier by the day. It requires all of my strength to give so many tours. I had NO idea that the visitor center would be the hardest part of my mission.. but it is by far. Tracting in a blizzard is easy compared to giving 5, two hour long tours a day. Sometimes I feel like I am crossing the plains pulling a handcart all day... okay just kidding it isn't that bad. It is really good and rewarding.. but it is tough work. One of my favorite things lately has been when we take younger kids on tour.. we will all sing a song together.. and it is so cool to see how strongly it brings the spirit and how the kids stop acting crazy and get quiet and actually listen! Oh and I got to take some old folgies from England on tour this week... and the guy told me his conversion story. He said that he met this girl and was so impressed with her standards.. that he looked into the church... and two weeks after meeting the missionaries he got baptized. He said when they told him about not smoking, he threw all of his cigarettes in the fire! I was like "wow that is amazing" and he said "Well, I had a testimony. I knew it was true. And nothing was going to stop me." It was pretty darn powerful! It is true though... if we really know something is true, then we shouldn't let anything keep us from the blessings. 

Thursday we took 20 seminary and institute teachers from Canada on tour... not sure why I always have to take the intimidating tour groups.. but it went really good! It was a tour where they taught me than I taught them, but I love when that happens! Which is often because I really know so little. I am learning a ton about history and I know a lot about what happened here.. but there is just so much I will never even comprehend it all. 

Tuesday, yeah sorry I am jumping ALL over the place with this email, we got to hangout with our homies Bridgette and Carol. Bridgette had a shirt on that said "this guy needs a beer" and she does look like a guy.. so that was funny. And she had the worlds biggest mullet. Literally it goes down to her butt. I will try to get a picture with her this week so you can see. But she said at one point "My hair is my strength. I would be lost without it." Hahah I was just dying. She also told us she is "lactoast intolerant"... any clue what that means anyone? And it was so funny someone called her and she said "I am busy with my girls right now. My preacher girls. My lady friends. My sisters." Apparently I am now a preacher girl. But man even though Bridgette is the definition of crazy.. she is more loving than like anyone I have ever met. Everyone that walks by she talks to, and offers to help.. and she really just loves everyone so much. It inspires me. And I really feel like she is more Christlike than almost anyone. It makes her fun to be around. I am not sure how to get to the point where everyone around me just feels Christ's love.. but that is definitely the way I want to become. And also Carol said she would get baptized so that is awesome too! 

The COOLEST thing was our lesson with Michael. (The family from that time when the spirit screamed at me and told me to knock on their door). So he read over 100 pages in the Book of Mormon in like 5 days.... so obviously I was already happy. Then he told us that the day after he stayed up late to read, he had a bunch miracles happen at work and things went way better than they should have. And he knows he was being blessed for reading the Book of Mormon. And then he told us about a really neat experience he had.. he said he was laying in bed.. like half asleep and he said he vividly heard a voice tell him that he needs to keep meeting with us because we will help  him positively change his life. Then he told us how grateful he is that we are meeting with him and for the positive influence he has already felt. It was such a neat experience! I am so grateful that the spirit told me to knock on their door. It was one of those moments where I knew that God needs me here in Ohio and that I really am helping people even if I don't always feel like it or recognize it. No matter how hard it is to be away from home or how many disappointments I have on my mission... experiences like this will remind me that there is nothing more important I could be doing. And I just love every minute of it. 

Overall.... really good week. Time is flying by so fast out here. I cannot believe that tomorrow is July already! Where is the summer going? I feel like I was just emailing you last week! It scares me. I never want summer to end.... 

I hope that you have a fun week and a good 4th of July! I will probably be in bed before there are any fireworks... missionaryprobs. Good thing it is worth it to be a missionary.

Also... WRITE ME LETTERS PEOPLE. I miss finding things in my mailbox. It has been as dry as the desert lately. 

Okay that is all. 

I love you! 

Love Cassidy

June 23, 2014 Letter from Cassidy

Well I have to say.. this week I heard some of the funniest things of my entire mission. AND also  had some of the coolest things happen with our investigators! It was such a good week.

So first of all.... my life is going a lot better now. Last Monday we got a new investigator named Jerrell. And he is the only African American guy in this whole town. And he is SO cool. And I just feel a lot better about things now. He has 2 little daughters that are the cutest things I have ever seen. And we have been back to teach him and he is so nice and I am just super excited about it.

Last Tuesday we got to see our best friend Bridgette. She literally loves us so much. Also, she is so dang funny. She went to Maryland last week... and she thinks that Baltimore is its own state... hahaha. She said "it is just so fast paced out there in the real world... I saw all sorts of things.. like drug dealers." hahah it was so funny especially because where she lives is like drug central. Literally everyone we talk to says that those apartments in Andover are drug capital of Ohio.

We had a super awesome lesson about the Plan of Salvation and how we can live with our families forever. And her sister Carol was there too and her husband just recently passed away and so she absolutely loved what we taught. Oh and at one point, Bridgette said "I don't understand how anyone could be an Athean." She meant Atheist... but said athean and it sounded like alien.. and I started laughing so hard. It killed me.

Things are still going super good with Gerald. He wears a shirt every time we see him so clearly he is making progress in the Gospel. But no really he has been reading the Book of Mormon.. and he said that he is starting to notice a big difference in his life. And it is really cool to see him make so much progress. Especially when he prays.. like when we first met him he didn't even know how to pray, and now he is praying at least twice a day! It is the coolest.

Wednesday morning I had a super cool miracle. So there was the biggest thunder/lightning storm in the world.. it woke me up at like 5:15 because it was shaking out whole apartment... and I literally prayed it would stop so we could still go running because I HATE exercising in the apartment... and when I got up at 6:15 it had completely stopped raining... and it didn't rain the whole time we were outside... and right when we got back to the apartment at 7... it instantly turned right back into the huge storm. It was probably the craziest thing ever. But hey, Heavenly Father answers prayers.

We were at Kirtland Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday last week. It. Was. Insainty. We gave so many tours.... I felt like I got hit by a bus BEFORE the huge bus tours even showed up on Friday. It is so tiring. haha. But we had some really cool people come in... also so interesting ones.

There was this one group.. and we are inside the Whitney store which is an original building from 1830s.... and this guy asked me (and he was dead serious) if the air conditioning upstairs was original...... I think I about died.  And then there was this guy who was asking the most irrelevant questions in the world. I was talking about Joesph Smith and the revelations he received in the store.. and this guy goes "Were the labels really stenciled on the bags like that?" and I was like... are you serious? Haha sometimes people are really just mixed up on what matters. And then their was this boy... and we are at like a serious part of the tour.. and I asked if anyone knew who Orson Hyde was... and this kid who is like 17 says "Yeah. He has a brother named Jeckell."... which okay might have been funny if he didn't totally ruin the spirit. And then he sat on the FLOOR in the middle of the tour and started kicking his sister... it was the craziest thing I have ever seen.

But then we have super awesome families come in and it makes everything so worth it.

We had a lot of youth groups come in this past week too. We had like hundreds of youth from Chicago come in and we had one of the coolest tours ever. So naturally they were a little bit rambunctious because they are like 16 year old kids... but we got to the upstairs of the Whitney Store... and I asked them how the Book of Mormon blesses them... and this boy who had kinda been joking around the whole tour bore his testimony of how the Book of Mormon converted him and helped him join the church.. and he shared how now it brings more peace and happiness into his life than anything else. It was really incredible to hear a young boy share how much it means to him and the influence it has had in his life. And then in the School of the Prophets I felt the spirit so strong. It was at the end of the day, I was totally drained... but when I bore my testimony to all of the youth about how I truly know nothing brings greater happiness than living the Gospel and following Christ.. I was so completely happy and grateful to be there. Even if it is super hard and tiring, I wouldn't give up the opportunity to help people and share what I believe. And the feelings I have when I bear my testimony confirm to me every single time that this Gospel really is true.

Saturday we got to come back to our area and we had an awesome day! Okay... so it was actually some of the FUNNIEST stuff of my mission. Get ready everyone, you are going to die.
So we went to do some service at some members house... and lets just say they are very interesting. They had a Jesus statue nightlight in their room. And about 97 cat statues around their family room. So yeah. And they are a little bit older... (they are the ones that came teaching to Gerald with us last week.) anyways just super funny. Her name is Rose and she was like "Sit down girls... I need to teach you some things." and then she literally told us her entire life history. I know waaay too much about her. At one point she said "I broke my leg... and they wouldn't let me use the car to get it fixed.... and then a week later the break in my leg fixed itself and there was nothing they could do." hahah yeah uh okay.  hen she was struggling to get up and she said "I can't get off my fat butt.... butt... butt..." and she started singing about it. 

And then she showed us this cat poem she is going to crochet onto something.. and it was called "Meow they lay me down to sleep". Basically the funniest thing in the world.

And this was the best part. So I asked if I could use the bathroom.. and she said yes. And then she was talking quietly to herself and she said... "I hope you don't have diarrhea. I don't have any medication for that. We might have to put you in a diaper. That is what I have to do sometimes."

And me and my companion died. Actually I am still dying. It was hands down the funniest thing of my entire life.

Saturday we also had a super good lesson with Michael and Kerri! They are making awesome progress. And they said their daughter Mariah took and hid the Book of Mormon becasue she wanted to read it! So we had to get them more copies. But I am really excited about their daughter. She is 13 years old and really searching for the truth... and I am positive that she is going to love the Gospel.

And then we had the best lesson ever with our investigator Gene. He is my favorite person ever. Probably because he is super normal. haha. He is the one who has been all over the world... like he literally has been everywhere and lived all over the place.. and he just has all these awesome stories and insights about people and things. I hope I can be as cool as him someday. And he it is super funny he wants me to run for president because he said I am "true" and he said he really trusts me. I'll take it. But he also has so many deep questions and is having a really hard time finding what is the truth about God and religion and what happens when we die and everything. I think he confuses himself a lot of the time. Deep down he knows what is true.. but is having a hard time just accepting it. And he has had some really hard stuff happen with his family and so working with that is hard. But we are making such awesome progress. He prayed for the first time ever with us... and the spirit was so strong. It was like a prayer where you truly know he was talking to God. I literally had chills. And then.....

HE CAME TO CHURCH YESTERDAY TO HEAR ME SPEAK!!!

I was sitting on the stand and when I saw him walk in I literally almost jumped out of my seat I was so excited. My talk went really good and he said he loved it! So that was a success! I spoke about how we can only find true and real happiness by living the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And how nothing in the world, no matter how fun or appealing it seems, will ever bring as much satisfaction and peace as being close to Christ and living how he wants. There was a quote I shared from Elder Wirthland and he said :

"The abundant life is a spiritual life. Too many sit at the banquet table of the gospel of Jesus Christ and merely nibble at the feast placed before them. They go through the motions—attending their meetings perhaps, glancing at scriptures, repeating familiar prayers—but their hearts are far away. If they are honest, they would admit to being more interested in the latest neighborhood rumors, stock market trends, and their favorite TV show than they are in the supernal wonders and sweet ministerings of the Holy Spirit."

And it is totally true. I think that we all put things, even if they aren't bad things, above living the Gospel. But we really are just cheating ourselves out of what can make us the happiest. I have such a strong testimony of how putting God first always makes us happier. I just want to challenge you guys to figure something out this summer that you could do to put Christ first in your life a little more and I know you will be happier.

And that is all. I have to get going because I am out of time... but I love you all and I miss you so darn much. Have a great week :)

Love Cassidy