Wow, you have stayed in Utah for quite some time. I am amazed that those college kids were okay with their mom shadowing them ;p Just kidding, I am sure they were very happy to have you around. Even Jonathan missed you! Whoah! He is growing up into a real young man! I miss you too. Two years is a long, short time. if you know what I mean. It goes by so fast but it seems to take forever! It is kind of crazy to think that in six months I will be on a plane. Weird. It's getting close. Only four more transfers, probably one more area and three more companions. My mission you could say is far from normal.
My companion is great! He is a fireball of a missionary. He is always in tune with what God wants him to be doing and he is always lifting me and inspiring me to be a better missionary. I am glad that he is my companion, we have a lot of fun together. We have been super busy and have been working hard but this past week I feel like I have nothing to share. I feel like I missed everything that happened this week. As the Zone leaders we go on exchanges a lot and I left our area twice this week to go and be in other missionaries area and those just happened to be the days that all the productive and fruitful work happened. I am glad that the missionaries that came into our area with my companion got lit up and inspired to go back to their areas and work hard!
We also had stake conference this past week and on the Saturday evening session I was sitting right next to Bishop Lovelady and I will admit I was exhausted. I may have dosed off for a minute in that hot chapel and Bishop took a picture of me and showed me at the end of the meeting. He joked around and said he was going to send it home to you. I told him he could and it would just prove how hard I was working :) I was talking with the Karrens later and Brother Karren, who is in the Stake presidency, asked me if I was tired and told me that he had seen a picture of me. Then he asked if I fell asleep during his talk and luckily I had been awake for his and was able to tell him what he had talked about. I hope they don't think I am a bad missionary because of this. They seemed to be pretty fun with it so I think it should all go over well. However the lesson has been learned, DO NOT fall asleep when you are sitting next to your bishop! Especially when he knows your parents! Just kidding, you shouldn't fall asleep at all but if you are exhausted fall asleep somewhere a little more secret :)
I have been studying recently about a marvelous work and a wonder. I have had some very good insights and have concluded that the marvelous work is the restoration and missionary work. That part was easy. The coolest connection I made was that the wonder of it all is how it reveals the mysteries of the eternities and gives us an eternal understanding. It reminded me of the saying, "A missionary is a person that leaves their family temporarily so that others can be together forever!" That is the wonder of this work. Families CAN be together forever and I am so grateful that I get to spend so much time with the people that I absolutely love! I can't even imagine what my life would be like if I didn't have that understanding. As a missionary I am truly blessed because I get to bring a message of hope and Joy to people every single day. "How great will be your Joy if you bring many unto me!" I love serving as a missionary. I love the people that I have met and the lives that have become part of my life and will change me forever. I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and will always be there to take care of me and help me when times are hard. I am so grateful for this gospel and how it has helped me become the best person I can become. I love my family more that anything in this world and I would do whatever it takes to make them happy. The atonement is real. It has changed my life forever and I will never be able to repay my Savior for what he has done for me. This is the true church. Don't doubt, the Spirit has confirmed it so move forward with faith. Put your trust in God and let him mold us into the incredible beings that our potential holds. We all have so much to create and to offer. Let it be unlocked!
I love you all! I am so happy that I get to call you Brother and Sister, Mother and Father!
Until next Monday,
Elder Maxwell
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