Nov 5th email

Well my second transfer has come to a close, which means I am officially done with training and now I am a fully trained missionary. My companion, Elder Larsen, is being transfered to go be a Zone Leader in another stake, and my new companion will be Elder Johnson. I have heard really great things about him, so I am excited to serve and learn from him. I’ll be staying in Wilton, which i am grateful for because we have a lot of great things happening. Gage Fox and his sister Alexis where baptized on Saturday and it was a great program. There was a ton of ward support which was nice, and there were quite a few non members there so Elder Larsen and I were able to give talks on baptism and the Holy Ghost, as well as share a little message about the restoration. They are great kids and I am very excited for this new life they will be starting on. 

Halloween as a missionary was quite a bit different than a normal Halloween. We went out and worked like usual, and then after dinner, all the missionaries in the zone met at the church and we watched Ephraim's rescue, and then had a Zone training. Ephraim's rescue was really an amazing movie and it made me so grateful for all that the early saints did. The things I am called to do as a missionary are difficult at times, but they are nothing compared to the things that the pioneers had to do. It motivated me to work harder and remember the sacrifice they made for this church.

We had the chance to go to the Temple today because it is Transfer P-day. We got stuck in traffic on the way and missed the endowment session so we just did initiatories and then went into the Celestial room. I decided that the Celestial room is my favorite place on the whole earth. The spirit there is so amazing, and the feelings there are amazing. 

We did a whole lot of service this week, which is normal for Wilton. We are helping a lady get this super old and sketchy camper trailer ready for her to move into because she lost her house. It is a 32 foot trailer and it is infested with spiders and stuff. It’s pretty gross and I feel bad for the family. We laid a concrete base for it and built a staircase and skirting for it. I learned how to drive a Bobcat while we were out there. Those things are fun. haha 

This week we had some members tell us that the Martians are down on earth controlling our brains because they are the ones that brought all technology for computers and smartphones and stuff, and now they can control us with them, that was a very interesting discussion. Another member told us about the Saturn Theory which basically says that Saturn and earth used to orbit each other and saturn was its own source of light and a bunch of other crazy stuff.. haha Wilton people are just fantastic! I cut my hair pretty dang short this week and one of the older relief society members came up and was like crying and said she was really sad to see my hair go.. haha it was funny,. It is weird having short hair because it hasnt been this short since middle school!

Missionary Work has been great, and I am really excited to take over wilton and watch it continue to progress as Elder Johnson and I begin working hard together. I have really felt the blessings of being a missionary, like when I was throwing a baseball around and almost shattered a window... Some kind of supreme being moved the ball or something so that the ball hit the frame instead of the glass... It was crazy. I prayed extra hard that night in gratitude. 

But anyway.. Thanks for all the support from home. I really appreciate it! Have a great week!

Love you more than kids love halloween candy!

I love you!

Elder Black J