August 16

Hello Family,

Wow, what another fast week. We’re on to the last week of the transfer and I’ve already got 6 months in the mission. I can hardly believe it’s gone by this fast, it’s seriously like a dream. The days blend into weeks, weeks into months, and before you know it you’re moving on. This week had its ups and downs. Downs: we’ve had to start dropping a lot of the investigators I really liked because they weren’t progressing. My comp got suuuper sick so I got to spend a whole day cleaning the apartment and making him tea while he baked in bed with a fever. Ups: We’ve been finding lots of awesome new investigators. I got to have a sweet interview with the mission president where he taught me lots of cool doctrine. My comp got better super quick and now we’re runnin’ full steam.

Time is super short, as always, but something really cool I learned this week was from the war chapters of Alma (43). I was a little bummed when I got there thinking, what can I learn from all these chapters about war, and what does that have to do with preaching the gospel, but I learned something really cool, which was about how Moroni motivates his troops. Instead of getting mad at them when they didn’t perform, or when they got scared, he filled their minds with inspiration, the things worth fighting for. He gave them a distinct purpose of why they were fighting and helped them focus on that. For missionary work, the same thing applies. Many investigators and recent converts have difficulty keeping commitments. Rather than just telling them the same things over and over, we as missionaries can inspire them with the reasons why they’re doing what they’re doing. For you all as normal people, life has its good times and its bad times, but as you focus on what your goal is and the people you love and who depend on you doing what you’re doing, you will find the inspiration to give you the strength you need.

I’m doing great, but still hoping for some letters, packages, or even emails from my fam. Love your guts!

-Elder Spencer