Elder Chandler Obray: "It's true! Everyone needs to hear this!"

What a great week over here in Ames. A lot happened so find a comfy seat, Mom get a Diet Coke. Lets get to it.

Where to even start. Unfortunately we still aren't back into our apartment. We are hopefully planning on getting moved back in tomorrow. It will be good to be back in 1305 Duff Avenue. We have new carpet so the place is looking real nice. It does smell pretty good at this moment, but I'm sure that damp smell of a basement apartment in Iowa will soon return.

We planned to teach our new investigator Hoarace on Wednesday, but when we got to the member/fellowshipper's house he wasn't around. We sat and talked to the member for a while but he didn't show up. We told the member that we should probably head out and get some work done when Hoarace finally showed up. Unfortunately we were already waiting for about an hour so we didn't have much time to teach him left. The member, Brother Holland then asked me if I would be willing to give Hoarace a blessing. I accepted and was able to give him the blessing. What a great experience! The priesthood is an incredible thing and I am grateful everyday for the privilege that it is to hold it.

Of course, I have to talk about our girl Diane. She is soo solid. We went over to her apartment this week and taught her about degrees of glory and she ate it up! She said after the lesson that she wanted to run down the streets shouting "It's true! Everyone needs to hear this!" Her baptism is this Saturday and we couldn't be more excited for her. The ward loves her already. I don't think that she will have any trouble getting comfortable with the Mormons. I will let you know next week how that baptism goes.

Transfers are this week. It is so crazy that I have already been through an entire transfer! Time is cruising by! It feels like just yesterday I was getting dropped off at the MTC. Plus I hear that your first couple of transfers are the longest of your mission. If that is the case I better not blink or I will miss the whole thing! Lucky for me, I am still training so Elder Dunford and I will be sticking around Ames for at least one more transfer. So no exciting news on that this time.

Get ready for a super cheesy but fire analogy. This week we were riding our bikes to an appointment. I felt like my legs were getting really tired. I got a little frustrated with myself and thought, "Really? I am tired already? I must be out of shape." By the time we got to our appointment my legs were fried (Ames has a lot of hills and such). Elder Dunford then decided to tell me that my tires were flat. He rode behind me the whole time and didn't think to tell me that my tires were flat, what a punk. After the lesson we filled up the tires and I felt like a new man. The bike was so much smoother and I actually felt like I didn't weight 400 pounds. Later in the day I was having a Walter Mitty moment and thought of a cute analogy. So often, we try to rely solely on our own strength and abilities to get us to our destination. We work hard and keep moving forward, little do we know that without our Savior's help, we are just riding with flat tires. We soon accept that maybe this is just how life is, maybe life is supposed to be hard. All we have to do is put some air into our tires! Heavenly Father is our eternal air supply. The way gets so much easier when we are humble enough to realize that the Lord can take the load off of our shoulders. If we listen to the prophet's counsel and do the simple things, like reading the scriptures and attending church meetings, we are ensuring that our tires are pumped up. We are entitled to the Lord's help when we do the things he commands. We will then find that when we face hills in our lives, the road still won't be easy, but it is made easier when we have the Lord on our side. Simple truths man. How's that for a corny analogy? I love them haha.

Have a good week

Future Primary Teacher,

Elder Obray