Week 42 (Week 25 in Michigan)

 

One last trip to the Beach with Elder Bradford

Hello again everyone! Man has this been a crazy week. As you may or may not know, since I arrived in Michigan, I have been serving in Bad Axe, and have been here for about 6 months. Well, I'm finally heading out to a new area! I found out on Saturday that I will be transferring over southwest to a town called South Haven. From the pictures I saw it looks really cool, and is directly on the coast! I figured when I got transferred that I would be landlocked, but I'm once again stationed on the coast, this time on the West Coast of Michigan. That means I'll see the other great lake, Lake Michigan. My new companion will be Elder Kofford who came in with Elder Bradford's group of missionaries, so he's still a pretty new missionary. 

I'm excited for Elder Bradford though! He is staying in Bad Axe and, not only did we set one of our friends, Stacy, for a baptismal date last week, but our friend Ben also accepted to be baptized. Great things are happening in Bad Axe, and I'm so happy that that's the case!

It was definitely sad to say goodbye to our members this week. Many of them felt like they were just starting to get used to me, and were sad to see me leave. But who knows, maybe I'll come back here some day after my mission. I really love our branch and all our members. I was especially sad to say goodbye to our branch mission leader, Byron Williams. He is the funniest guy you will ever meet, with a super strong testimony, and he is also super missionary-minded. He is just the best, and I will miss him so very much! I got to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting on Sunday, and that day we just so happened to have the most attendance in person in a while. It was a great last Sunday in Bad Axe, for sure.

The one and only, Byron Williams!

This week I've been starting to read all of the Doctrine and Covenants, since it is a mission-wide goal to read through it, before our next general conference. For those of you who don't know, this book is a collection of revelations and doctrines received by Joseph Smith and other modern day prophets that contain some beautiful doctrines about the organization of God's church, the mysteries of the afterlife, and the role of Jesus Christ in our church and in God's plan. I've honestly never read front to back this book, and so it's been really cool to read about familiar stories and the origins of certain practices in the church. It has been another testament to me that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the same church that Jesus Christ himself established, restored in its fulness today. And it has also confirmed to me further that Joseph Smith really was called as a prophet by God, and that the book he translated by the power of God, The Book of Mormon, really is the word of God. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and that it can bring any man or woman closer to God, if they read and study it with real intent, and pray to know if it is true. 

But I hope you all have a fantastic week, and I can't wait to share about my new area and companion! Take care everybody!

~Elder Kasey Lightheart

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