It’s been a busy week here in the UOM! We had transfers this last week, and a lot of changes have gone down. The least of which is that my companion and I are opening and leading a new zone, the Battle Creek Zone! We’re serving in Lindon right now, which is exciting because this is the second time I’ve served here, and it’s right across the street from the Northridge Stake, which I served in for four months. It so surreal thinking of memories and feeling like they just happened not that long ago, then realizing they happened over a year ago! My companion's name is Elder Campbell. He’s from Maryland, and he’s been out for a while. Whenever people ask, he tells them he’s been out just over a year, but let’s just say I’ll be getting a new companion here in about three weeks, haha!
We were packed this last Thursday with Turkey Bowl in the morning and dinners the rest of the day. It was great because we got to eat a ton, but miserable because we felt like we were going to die from food overdose. It was great! The rest of the weekend was spent getting readjusted to the area. It was strange seeing people that I already knew, and kinda funny when some of them didn’t remember me. We had the opportunity to teach sharing time in two wards, so a total of four times because of Junior and Senior Primary, which I didn’t even know was a thing until I came out on my mission. Some of the little kids were so cute! Others were brats. You know, the usual mix. I feel like I have grown a lot in this last week alone. My companion had a meeting for preparing to go home on Saturday morning, so I just sat in the office with one of the APs and studied for a solid two hours. The funny thing is, I wish I would have had more time to read the scriptures. It felt like it flew by so fast! I would say that a miracle I saw this week was just the renewed excitement to learn a lot and get up early to exercise and all these other great things that will benefit me. It’s a miracle because it’s something that I really needed and have been praying for for a while. I hope everyone else is able to have their prayers answered, or at least that they are able to be the answer to someone else’s prayer!
Also, everyone go to www.mormon.org and check out the “Light the World” initiative that the church has started. It’s an amazing way to bring light into a world that so often gets shrouded in darkness. This email is an official invitation to everyone who receives it to light up someone else’s world through small acts of service throughout the month of December. The website has tons of ideas how to do so, and there are even more unwritten ways that we can serve others. I promise anyone that participates in it will have a brighter Christmas season and will feel more joy during this holiday season than they have in years past. Light the World, my friends!
Elder Ethan Orchard
“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness” Moroni 10:32
Only picture this week is of a sweet sunrise we saw this morning. Not just the sky, but everywhere else looked like the world had put a filter on itself.
