Awesome News!

GOOD MORNING!!! FAMILY IN DRAPER UTAH!!

The first whole week in osky.. was super great! We’ve had a lot of little miracles in the area and have been able to connect with a lot of people. We’ve been working really hard to get to know a lot of the members here, since we don’t know anyone at all, but the branch here is so awesome and willing to do anything for missionary work!! This area is going to push me really hard for the next few months and I know that theLlord is going to help me grow a lot here. O ya osky... is the nick name that everyone here uses for Oskaloosa.. haha I will just go with the flow on that one as well.

I am glad that you got your package, I know that it isn’t much, but I hope you get a lot of use out of it.. Thank you as well for the package of sunshine.. I’ve been snacking on a lot of it already! as well as the other packages too:) The zone that we are in is very big and spread out, so it makes the drives great when I am able to snack on something.. :) So I sent it home because I haven’t used it since the mtc.. most places have pants that you can use anyway, so I figured I could save some room.. haha So where is that place that Conner and Bret are at? Looks like they are having fun, hopefully you guys can get something.. The weather here is very odd for Iowa right now.. as it is for most places it sounds like. Today is supposed to be very hot, but then it will start dropping towards the end of the week. Everyone here says that it doesn’t get really cold till after December.. I am excited about that.. the longer the summer the better I would like to say.. Everything is good here though, I have plenty of cloths for the winter and the rest of the summer, so I should be able to finish off with what I have left.:)

The B..... called you.. Awesome! So the story behind that is.. We drove to Des Moines for stake coordination, that we do with the mission president and the stake president here. We do it every month, which means all be down in Des Moines at least once a month.. it’s about an hour and a half drive! As we were waiting for the others to show up, he was in the hall way and I talked to him for a minute. Which ended up leading to where I was from, when he said he was from Draper I thought that was super sweet!.. Small world huh? .. I am glad that they were able to call you though.. I guess they are in Ryan and Tod’s ward..

The BYU game sounded awesome!! That’s great that the boys loved the game and that they won! ya!!

For the missionary work side of things.. We had an investigator come to church that we found and taught last week. His name is B...., he’s a great kid that wants to change his life and has been through a lot. Its been a miracle to get the chance to teach him and get him to church.. We’ve also been working with some people that the other missionaries were teaching before they left. Q...... is basically ready to be baptized, he just has a few more things to change and he will be ready! He knows that the church is true, the step of faith.. baptism.. is always the final and sometimes the hardest thing to help others do. It’s also the most rewarding and greatest experience ever!

This week we went on exchanges with the Elders in Knoxville! .. fun fact.. Knoxville has a huge sprint track there! for those that like love their racecars.. :) anyway.. Elder Firth my old companion from Mason City is serving there, I didn’t go out with him this time, but next time I will.. I went with a great elder by the name of Elder Underwood, he was born in Germany and lived there for a little while. He’s got such a great story! also he speaks like 4 languages.. wish I could to that.. I had a great time down there!

We’ve been doing a lot of service here in osky which is great! Since I didn’t get a lot of opportunities in Waukee.. We helped a member pull down a barn that got burned up, man I came out of that place with black ash all of the place, we had a great time with it though.. J... is such a funny and great guy!. that’s who we did service for.. The other service we did was right out in the back yard.. do you remember the grapevines that I took pictures of? well that’s where we were.. The L... are the ones that own the farm and the house that we stay at. We went and helped them pick a bunch of grapes and dumped them into a big smashers! It’s been a fun week and a hard one! Next week is going to be crazy, but you will have to tune in next Monday for the story!

I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!

LOVE ELDER KIRTON!!