Elder Chandler Obray: HALLELUJAH!

Hey Hey Hey! Man, it has been a great week here in East Moline. I can't complain about things here. The weather has warmed up a lot. We had a few weeks straight of rain and overcast skies. Fortunately for us, the weather has cleared up and the sun is out. I love this time of year because I feel like along with the Resurrection of our Savior on Easter, the earth experiences something similar. Can't complain too much!

This week was pretty wild. We had a bunch of pretty interesting experiences. It was a crazy busy week as well. On Tuesday, we had a triple blitz in an area in Moline. We had seven Elders working the same area so that was a treat. I got to go with one of our zone leaders. He has been out for almost twenty-one months so it was great to work with a seasoned missionary. As I thought about my mission so far, I realized that all my companions have been pretty young. Elder Dunford trained me at 6 months and all my other companions came out in the same group with Elder Balderston. Pretty crazy.

We also had interviews with President and Sister Badger, they are the greatest. I learn so much from them whenever I am around them. President is such an awesome man. It will be cool to hear him from the pulpit in the conference center some day! Another highlight of the week was our mission gathering. Unfortunately, Elder Stevenson couldn't make it like we thought. It was pretty disappointing. But instead, we got to hear from L. Whitney Clayton, the Senior President of the Seventy. It was a great time to learn from him. He brought two other members of the Seventy as well so I can't complain. It was cool to be in the same room as such spiritual men. I will talk about that more at the end of this email.

I got my first taste of some different Christian churches. On Friday, we attended a Methodist service with a recent convert. He is a wizard on the piano so he played for their service. The highlight was on Sunday morning. One of our investigators decided that if we came to his church, he would come to ours. Sounds like a good deal. So, on Easter Sunday, Elder Anderson and I got to attend a Baptist service. It was so sick! We got some crazy looks. Not only because we were two of maybe four white people in the church, but we were the Mormons! People were incredibly nice though. We made sure we introduced ourselves to as many people as we could! The Baptist church really knows how to keep a service exciting. The whole time, people were yelling "AMEN" "HALLELUJAH!" and "PRAISE HIM!" It was awesome. They had dancing, mingling time, and they even had a choir that belted out the songs. I am pretty sure I am going to join! Haha just kidding. I had the same feeling as I did in the Methodist Church. They definitely had a fun time, but if nothing else, it solidified my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Our investigator, A came to our sacrament meeting and really enjoyed it. He said that he has some pretty intense anxiety but when he came into our church, he felt calm and at peace. Gotta love the spirit.

Although it was great to learn from Elder Clayton, my favorite part of the meeting was something President Badger said. He told a story about running with a tail wind versus running with a head wind. When we run with the tail wind, we don't always notice that it is there and we start to become a little confident as we feel like we are in much better shape than we thought. We don't realize that we had the help until we turn around to face the head wind. At this time, we are often humbled as we struggle against the wind. President Badger said that sometimes all we can do is put our head down and keep moving our feet against the trials we face. By the time we get back home to our Heavenly Father, we will be grateful for the trials that we had because of the strength that we received as we endure the struggles. He also said that "The absence of trials is also a trial." When life is going swell, we are often reluctant to look to the Savior. We become complacent and prideful as we rely more on our own strength. When we have trials, we have the privilege of gaining strength and experience. The last quote that I really loved was when he said, "At the end of the day, when we return to our Heavenly Father, I think that we will look back and be surprised at how much help we actually had in our mortal lives." I testify along with President Badger, that the Lord is always with us, even when we feel that we are alone. He will never turn from us, it is just up to us to keep out minds turned to Him. That is when true peace and joy come.

I hope you all have a great week this week. I sure do love you guys.

Elder Obray