6/27/16

6-20-16
It was a good PDay today! Bro. Tadlock took us out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and brought his nephew Wyatt. After that, we waited on E. Staley to get a haircut and then played tennis. We played a game of doubles! Then, we got our groceries home and headed to the church to play some basketball. Little did we know that about 30 people were going to show up! We played a bunch of games. I had the game winning shot at the end. 😎 Dee was telling us about how he enjoyed church on Sunday. He plans to come again and bring some friends that we met playing ball!

6-21-16
It was a slow day today... We couldn't catch very many people home. So we went to go help Patti & Dave, but Patti wasn't feeling well and Dave wouldn't let us! We sat and visited with him for a little bit while we watched "Conan: the Destroyer 1982"
with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's a new favorite for me! I hope to someday, be half the man that he is. After that, we tried to catch Dee at home and a few others, but no one was available. For dinner, we made Quesadillas and headed out to the other side of town. We caught the guy who let Elder Rose and I in while he got the bloody nose, but he wants to stick with his own religion... We went to stop by the Thompson's to see what they were doing and just Jakob and Liam were there. They just ordered pizza, so they gave us some and we played a little basketball with them.

6-22-16
We had Zone Conference today which was really awesome! We had some good trainings by the APs, Zone Leaders and Pres. Turner. This went until 4:00 pm, so we got back just in time to get ready for Ward Coordination. That meeting went well and we talked about Tammy getting ready to go to the temple. After the meeting, we saw her before she talked to the Bishop and she said it went really well! Now she has to meet with the Stake President. I am so excited for her! We kept Jake preoccupied while she was in there. When she left, Dee and some friends and some investigators came and played basketball. We played ball with them for a bit and showed the investigator who came around the church a bit. We also, shared some scriptures with Dequan on the Sideline. The bishop is trying to shutdown us playing basketball on Mondays because he said the facilities need to be shut down Monday because it should be family night. Uhh we're missionaries? The ward doesn't organize any activities to get the community involved, so we took it upon ourselves to organize basketball where nonmembers can come and play! We open with a prayer and spiritual thought. We are just making them feel welcome and comfortable in our church and that we are normal people! That's a big reason why Dequan came to church last Sunday because we gave him a tour of the church and played basketball. Now, he is comfortable enough to bring his friends with him. He already calls it "his church" haha. We see them around town all the time and they'll honk at us and talk to us. We are pretty popular now! So we are going to go talk to Bishop about it Sunday and make sure he doesn't shut it down...

6-23-16
This morning, we got up and helped the Barefoots clean the church.
They were really grateful for that. After that, we played some basketball and kicked the ball around with Jake. He was laughing hard.
He cracks me up. After we went back to the apartment and finished our studies, we set out to go proselyte. We went to the ghetto to go try by some potentials. We went up and talked to a group of black guys for a bit. It reeked of weed over there while we were talking to them.
Haha we ended up having a good conversation with them and they were really nice! The potential investigator we taught before was out there, so we taught her a little bit too. We also, set up a return appointment. After that, we stopped by an investigator named Candice.
She was passed out asleep under her garage, so we decided to take pictures with her! Haha

6-24-16
We helped Sis. Mason mow her lawn today. There was a friend of hers that came over and we got to teach them! Her brother was there for a bit too. After that, we went to the church to give Sister Jones (Sister Missionary) a blessing. Her eye was completely swollen shut for some reason. We finally, were able to get some lunch. After lunch/dinner, we tried by some people and called a ton of people to stop by and see them. No one was available... It was just one of those trial days.

6-25-16
After we set out for the day, we tried to catch some people at home who weren't. Then, we went over to Dequan's because we were going to cut his lawn. Dequan said that their mower caught on fire while they were trying to mow last time. After about 8 weeks of it being really long, we decided to go help them cut it. The day we decided to do it, was the day they must've decided to have someone else cut it! That was kind of frustrating. Haha but it's turned out to be a good thing because it dumped rain a little after we drove by there. Bro. Solomon took us over there with his mower, but since we couldn't mow... He took us to get milkshakes at Cook-Out! It cleared up after about an hour and a half, so we headed out again. We finally met the guy we saw at Lowe's who randomly invited us over for burgers! He is this really nice black guy named Freddie. He used to play baseball for USC and now he works at a Chrysler place making bearings for the cars. He has met with missionaries before and is still in contact with one on Facebook!
He invited us back over on Tuesday for burgers, so I can't wait for that! To end the night, we stopped to visit with Bro. Moles. He has had some health issues, so he hasn't been able to go to church lately.
We had a good visit with him and shared a message.

6-26-16
After Sacrament meeting, the Bishop called us in to visit with him about basketball. We talked to him about a member named Ziggy Ansuh
(sp?) and he plays for the Detroit Lions now in the NFL. We talked about him because he was introduced by the missionaries through a simple game of basketball. That's how he joined the church! We talked about Dequan as well. He didn't get to go to church this Sunday because he was out of town, but he started coming once he came to play basketball. He plans to bring some friends to church as well! He agreed that we can continue playing, but we have to keep the numbers down to around 10 people. After church, we went over to Sis. Tingen's and Pete grilled some awesome pork and chicken. I was stuffed! Then, we went to visit Sis. Mason and talk with her for a little bit. We stopped by some investigators named Doug and Desi. They were playing board games, so we played a little bit with them. One was called "Exploding Kittens." They cooked some curry for dinner and fed us!
They are some really nice people. They told us that they want their house to be a "safe house" where we can feel comfortable to stop and get a drink or food anytime. Then, they drove us home for the night!


-Elder Mitchell

6/27/16

6-20-16
It was a good PDay today! Bro. Tadlock took us out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant and brought his nephew Wyatt. After that, we waited on E. Staley to get a haircut and then played tennis. We played a game of doubles! Then, we got our groceries home and headed to the church to play some basketball. Little did we know that about 30 people were going to show up! We played a bunch of games. I had the game winning shot at the end. 😎 Dee was telling us about how he enjoyed church on Sunday. He plans to come again and bring some friends that we met playing ball!

6-21-16
It was a slow day today... We couldn't catch very many people home. So we went to go help Patti & Dave, but Patti wasn't feeling well and Dave wouldn't let us! We sat and visited with him for a little bit while we watched "Conan: the Destroyer 1982"
with Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's a new favorite for me! I hope to someday, be half the man that he is. After that, we tried to catch Dee at home and a few others, but no one was available. For dinner, we made Quesadillas and headed out to the other side of town. We caught the guy who let Elder Rose and I in while he got the bloody nose, but he wants to stick with his own religion... We went to stop by the Thompson's to see what they were doing and just Jakob and Liam were there. They just ordered pizza, so they gave us some and we played a little basketball with them.

6-22-16
We had Zone Conference today which was really awesome! We had some good trainings by the APs, Zone Leaders and Pres. Turner. This went until 4:00 pm, so we got back just in time to get ready for Ward Coordination. That meeting went well and we talked about Tammy getting ready to go to the temple. After the meeting, we saw her before she talked to the Bishop and she said it went really well! Now she has to meet with the Stake President. I am so excited for her! We kept Jake preoccupied while she was in there. When she left, Dee and some friends and some investigators came and played basketball. We played ball with them for a bit and showed the investigator who came around the church a bit. We also, shared some scriptures with Dequan on the Sideline. The bishop is trying to shutdown us playing basketball on Mondays because he said the facilities need to be shut down Monday because it should be family night. Uhh we're missionaries? The ward doesn't organize any activities to get the community involved, so we took it upon ourselves to organize basketball where nonmembers can come and play! We open with a prayer and spiritual thought. We are just making them feel welcome and comfortable in our church and that we are normal people! That's a big reason why Dequan came to church last Sunday because we gave him a tour of the church and played basketball. Now, he is comfortable enough to bring his friends with him. He already calls it "his church" haha. We see them around town all the time and they'll honk at us and talk to us. We are pretty popular now! So we are going to go talk to Bishop about it Sunday and make sure he doesn't shut it down...

6-23-16
This morning, we got up and helped the Barefoots clean the church.
They were really grateful for that. After that, we played some basketball and kicked the ball around with Jake. He was laughing hard.
He cracks me up. After we went back to the apartment and finished our studies, we set out to go proselyte. We went to the ghetto to go try by some potentials. We went up and talked to a group of black guys for a bit. It reeked of weed over there while we were talking to them.
Haha we ended up having a good conversation with them and they were really nice! The potential investigator we taught before was out there, so we taught her a little bit too. We also, set up a return appointment. After that, we stopped by an investigator named Candice.
She was passed out asleep under her garage, so we decided to take pictures with her! Haha

6-24-16
We helped Sis. Mason mow her lawn today. There was a friend of hers that came over and we got to teach them! Her brother was there for a bit too. After that, we went to the church to give Sister Jones (Sister Missionary) a blessing. Her eye was completely swollen shut for some reason. We finally, were able to get some lunch. After lunch/dinner, we tried by some people and called a ton of people to stop by and see them. No one was available... It was just one of those trial days.

6-25-16
After we set out for the day, we tried to catch some people at home who weren't. Then, we went over to Dequan's because we were going to cut his lawn. Dequan said that their mower caught on fire while they were trying to mow last time. After about 8 weeks of it being really long, we decided to go help them cut it. The day we decided to do it, was the day they must've decided to have someone else cut it! That was kind of frustrating. Haha but it's turned out to be a good thing because it dumped rain a little after we drove by there. Bro. Solomon took us over there with his mower, but since we couldn't mow... He took us to get milkshakes at Cook-Out! It cleared up after about an hour and a half, so we headed out again. We finally met the guy we saw at Lowe's who randomly invited us over for burgers! He is this really nice black guy named Freddie. He used to play baseball for USC and now he works at a Chrysler place making bearings for the cars. He has met with missionaries before and is still in contact with one on Facebook!
He invited us back over on Tuesday for burgers, so I can't wait for that! To end the night, we stopped to visit with Bro. Moles. He has had some health issues, so he hasn't been able to go to church lately.
We had a good visit with him and shared a message.

6-26-16
After Sacrament meeting, the Bishop called us in to visit with him about basketball. We talked to him about a member named Ziggy Ansuh
(sp?) and he plays for the Detroit Lions now in the NFL. We talked about him because he was introduced by the missionaries through a simple game of basketball. That's how he joined the church! We talked about Dequan as well. He didn't get to go to church this Sunday because he was out of town, but he started coming once he came to play basketball. He plans to bring some friends to church as well! He agreed that we can continue playing, but we have to keep the numbers down to around 10 people. After church, we went over to Sis. Tingen's and Pete grilled some awesome pork and chicken. I was stuffed! Then, we went to visit Sis. Mason and talk with her for a little bit. We stopped by some investigators named Doug and Desi. They were playing board games, so we played a little bit with them. One was called "Exploding Kittens." They cooked some curry for dinner and fed us!
They are some really nice people. They told us that they want their house to be a "safe house" where we can feel comfortable to stop and get a drink or food anytime. Then, they drove us home for the night!


-Elder Mitchell

2/15/16

2-8-16

The Cheraw Elders came to Hartsville to hangout with us for my birthday! They made me pick where I wanted to eat, so I picked Zaxby's! After lunch, they took us to go get our groceries since they have a car. Then, we went to the church and played basketball. It was a lot of fun! After they left, we went to the Edward's home for dinner. Bro. Edwards made steaks, flattened them and rolled bacon, pickles, cheese and mustard in them. It is supposedly a German dish and it was amazing! Then, we had cake with cream cheese icing!

2-9-16

It was a pretty good day today! We met some nice people who weren't always interested... But they were nice! Later tonight, we went over to Juwan's to visit him. We went over the interview questions and helped prepare him for the actual one on Friday!

2-10-16

We taught the Plan of Salvation to one of the people we have on date. When we left, the guy said, "next time y'all come over, I'll have something to share with you!" Haha I wonder what that's going to be. We went over to a member's for dinner and had some pizza. Then, we went to ward coordination to address the needs of our investigators and how the ward can help.

2-11-16

We did quite a bit of ghetto stomping today. We got some lessons in as well! We decided to go see a less active we have never met before. I just felt prompted to do so. We knocked on the door and talked to the lady who answered. She told us that the person we were looking for moved... So instead, we talked to the lady who was there. She seemed pretty interested in our lesson and would like for us to come back! It's amazing how much the Spirit can work with you. As long as you put your trust in those promptings and follow them, things will work out. It's really neat to see how we are led to certain people by the Spirit or they are led to us. These people who have been prepared by Heavenly Father to listen to the message of the restored gospel.

After that lesson, we met a member back at our apartment and went out teaching with him for a bit!

2-12-16

We had ZTM today and it was awesome! All of our key indicators as a zone have increased. Afterwards, we went on companion exchanges with the zone leaders. I stayed in Hartsville. So big news!!.. The District leader came to Hartsville as well so that he could interview Juwan for baptism! He is ready and excited to take the step of faith he needs to come closer to Christ. He requested that I should baptize him! We have had the date set with him for the 20th of February. It's amazing because Elder Siebers and I started this goal to pray daily and reason with the Lord on how to accomplish the goal of baptizing someone by the 20th. Our faith has paid off after we have been tested and tried. We used faith as a power to accomplish this goal. After the interview, we went finding for a bit and found 4 new investigators!

2-13-16

Comp. exchanges ended today. We went to drop E. Lambert off and picked up E. Rose. When we got back, we went tracting and found a few people to teach. To end the freezing day, we went to a member's home and visited with them. I got along really well with them. They filled us in on all the crazy political stuff and all the great movies I'm going to be missing out on. Haha. We shared one of my favorite scriptures with them (Helaman 5:12) and talked to them about how a Christlike centered home is so important. We will build that foundation that will be steadfast and immovable.

2-14-16

Happy Valentine's Day! Church went really well today. I wrote our Juwan's program for his baptism and a couple people to make some desserts for it. They announced his baptism time at church, so I really hope a lot of people show up! After church, we went over to see the Thompson's and have lunch with them. They grilled up some steaks! It was around 28° today, so biking was freezing! This humidity makes it so much colder too... We knocked into a Jehovah's Witness today and that was interesting! They have such a cynical view of Christ. It makes it difficult to no just unleash a bunch of doctrine on them, but that would just make them mad. We are told to stay away from bible bashing. Haha so I just shared my testimony and told her to have a good day. We ended up teaching a total of 20 lessons this week! Most of them are from tracting, but we are going to focus on getting more members our teaching with us next week.

-Elder Mitchell

2/8/16

2-1-16
Our PDay wasn't very eventful. But that's okay! We went to the apartment, cleaned and caught up on some sleep. For dinner, we got to eat at the Tingen's. The husband (Pete) into a member, so we taught him the Restoration. He's so quiet that it's hard to understand what he's thinking. We also, went to go teach a couple that E. Siebers got really close to. He got to say goodbye to them so he was happy about that.

2-2-16
A member took us out to lunch at a Mexican restaurant which was really good! We then went finding for awhile and couldn't find anyone... We came across a couple who was outside and the wife had just gotten out of prison! 😳 they were nice people though! For dinner, a member dropped off some Sonic for us.
After we ate, we went to see Sis. Smother's and her kids. We shared out testimonies of Joseph Smith and decisions to serve a mission. We also got to teach Vanessa which was awesome! We brought a member who was taking it way off subject... Vanessa started to lose interest when that happened, so I said a quick prayer. I was able to bring the lesson back as I really paid attention and listened to the Spirit. We discerned her concerns and then got her to pray at the end of the lesson!

2-3-16
Transfers! Bro. Haney took us to Columbia in this morning. Transfers are done differently now. We all just meet in the chapel, say an opening prayer and then they pair us up and tell us where we are going. E. Siebers went to a small branch in Georgetown. I am now with Elder Rose. He's from Cedar City UT. He is a nice guy and is excited about missionary work. When we got back to Hartsville, it started to rain. We were still able to teach quite a bit of people even though it poured on us.

2-4-16
For E. Rose's first full day, it rained all day. I kept him excited about going out in it so that he doesn't feel discouraged already. We met some more nice people. I feel like a lot of them just felt bad that we were out in the rain. We were able to teach Rosa who is on date and she still wants to get baptized! While we were out tracting, we walked up to a house with a Prius covered in Bernie Sanders bumper stickers. Along with signs covered in the front yard. She answered the door and said that she was "too busy trying to elect Bernie Sanders for President." Haha then she proceeded to compare him to Jesus!..
"Bernie Sanders doesn't judge anyone and supports gays like Jesus would." Haha We taught four lessons today! After dinner, we went to help Sis.
Smother's move stuff out of her house because of the divorce. She was very grateful we helped. Her 16 year old son is less active and I would like to get him going to church again. He's a really nice kid!

2-5-16
I took E. Rose to the ghetto today! He wasn't too excited. We also got a member out to teach with us for a lesson. Frank took us out to lunch to meet the new missionary. Then after dinner, we were heading to our planned area but I got prompts to go and visit Ryan. We haven't seen him or been able to contact him in awhile. It was in the opposite way, but I decided to listen to the prompting. He was there! We taught him and he's going to try and come to church this Sunday if he's feeling better.

2-6-16
We did some service for an old couple by raking leaves for them. We had to leave for a teaching appointment all the way across town. When we got there, he wasn't even home. I was not happy because we rushed over there thinking we were going to be late. We made that special trip up there just for him. We decided to see a couple potential investigators in that area since we were there. We went to one who had a friend over. We taught the friend and were able to put him on date.
E. Rose is struggling with speaking up and knowing what to say. I just told him to rely on the Spirit and be confident! We are just going to have to keep practicing. He's just been feeling bad because I've been doing all the talking. We also met a 90 year old man who served in WWII! He was telling us some stories about it. Haha We we left there, we went to dinner at an Italian place. I recognized a less active member in there. I heard that he doesn't really like missionaries... We went to go pay and they told us that the less active member had already paid for out meal. We thanked him and talked to him for a little bit. It was such a nice thing. Today, I was feeling pretty discouraged so it meant a lot to me. Heavenly Father will send tender mercies our way like that, as long as we are doing what we're supposed to be doing and put our trust in Him.

2-7-16
Juwan came to church! The less active member who paid for our meal yesterday came as well! They both sat next to us. I talked to the LA member and he said that his family doesn't like Mormons. So come to find out that he wants to be active, but his family holds him back.
Pretty sad. The Lillian's had us over for dinner and then we went over to the Harvey's while the Super Bowl was going on. They filled us up with all kinds of snacks. Then, we sat and talked to them for awhile.
They are a young couple and I get along with them so well!

-Elder Mitchell

1/18/16 Pics

1/12/16

1-4-16
For PDay, Frank took us to Florence to go hangout with the Zone
Leaders. He took us all out to eat at a nice Japanese restaurant. He
took us shopping for a little bit and I bought myself a new tie! After
that, Frank took us back to Hartsville so that we could meet up with
some members who took us out to eat as well. We also, got to go and
visit some members who have been having marital issues. We met with
the husband at his house and the went to his wife's mom's where she
was and spoke to her. We gave her a blessing because they're going
through a lot. They have three young kids and they're about to go
through a divorce.
1-5-16
It is starting to get cold now. It was also pretty slow today. We saw
a guy that was Southern Baptist and he very politely damned us to
hell. Haha! We asked to sit down and learn about some of his beliefs
while we share ours. He said he would, but doesn't have time today. I
told him that we would LOVE to sit down with him and talk about Jesus
Christ at anytime and that he knows where to find us!
We ate dinner at a member's home and the dad came out with us to an
appointment. It was a sweet old lady that we taught and it went well!
Hopefully she will follow through with the commitments we extended to
her.
 1-6-16
Bro. Solomon called us this morning to go with him to give a less
active member a blessing. We were there for an hour and a half... He
talked and talked and there wasn't anything we could do about it! I
think it's because he sometimes procrastinates having to get up and
walk. He's a solid 400lbs. He is such a nice guy though! He took us to
Subway and drove us to go see a couple potentials. He had a blast and
I think we made his day. He's one of my favorites!
For dinner, we went to the Bushman's. The husband is the highschool's
Spanish teacher. The wife is from Peru and she made some really good
chicken, rice and beans! They're a funny couple because he's buff and
she's so tiny and skinny.
After that we had ward coordination and then went to go see a member
who is in a nursing home. He is on dialysis right now... We met a
funny old lady who is starting to lose her mind a bit. Haha I shook
her hand and introduced myself. She wouldn't let go of my hand! She
claimed that E. Siebers was her nephew. Haha the nurses told us to get
away as fast as we can!
1-7-16
It wasn't very eventful today. We taught a couple people on their
doorsteps and went tracting most of the day. E. Siebers had to go to
the dentist who is a member. He's a cool guy. He said he won't charge
us if we need to get our teeth checked on!
For dinner, we went to a local BBQ Buffet with some members and it was
so good! They had some awesome fried gizzards so I was excited about
that. We got so full that we couldn't move, so luckily we had
scheduled a member to come out teaching with us so we didn't have to
ride our bikes anymore. We covered a lot of area today! I've probably
put so many miles on my bike already.
1-8-16
We had ZTM today and it was really good. President Turner was there
which was neat to see him. I got a package from the Felmlee's for New
Years with some candy and money!
After the meeting, we headed back to Hartsville and went ghetto
stomping for a bit. We met a lady named Felicia (of course). Haha we
also stopped by to watch Frank play tennis for a little while. We went
back to tracting and met some really neat people! We set up some
return appointments as well.
To end the night, we went over to the Barefoot's (an old couple in the
ward). The wife named Yvanne is such a funny lady. Her voice sounds
just like the lady from The movie Open Season with the pet wiener dog.
Haha she always gives us a plate of cookies, Dr. Pepper and money when
we go over there. I am exhausted. That's somethings going to have to
get used to, is always being tired.
1-9-15
While we were tracting this morning, we stopped by a lady who has met
wi missionaries before. She told us to come back after lunch. So when
we went there again, she asked if we could help her with a couple
things... First, she has a door to the garage that had a broken lock,
so we took the hinges off. I ran my shoulder into it because it still
wouldn't come off and it popped off! She had been struggling with that
door for over a month because the door wouldn't unlock. The whole
inside of the knob was busted so we replaced it with another she had.
The second thing was that her daughter locked her keys in her trunk.
While I was working on the door, E. Siebers was working on that. He
couldn't get it, so I got a wire hanger and a screwdriver. We had to
reach the lever that pops the trunk because her automatic door locks
didn't work... I said a quick prayer and got the trunk open in no
time! They were so happy. Then, we got to teach them a lesson and it
went really well! She was offended by the previous missionaries
because I guess they tore down her beliefs. We made sure that, that's
not what we do and they shouldn't have. We seemed to have rebuilt her
trust in missionaries again. Haha
While we were biking away, a short little guy stopped us and told us
we were going to hell. Second person this week! Haha he told us that
we don't believe in Christ. I think it's funny when people tell us
what we believe in like they know more than us about it. He also
chastised us for not believing in the trinity. Haha he said we are
going around teaching blasphemy.  He called us Pharisees and that if
we continue what we are doing, then we will be drug down to hell. He
said that he cares and just wants to see us in heaven. We just simply
said that it isn't anyone's place to judge except the Lord's, so we
will see him in heaven! -then biked off. People are fun. It is really
hard not to go off on some people like that. I just have to remember
that I'm the representative of Jesus Christ set apart to be an
example.
1-10-16
Church was really awesome today! The focus was on the Plan of
Salvation and eternal families. We got an investigator to come to
church as well.
After church, we got a couple member present lessons. One was with a
kid that has been coming to church quite a bit now. It went well!
Towards the end of the night, we stopped by Sis. Catoe's and shared a
spiritual message. She was watching football, so she just muted it for
me and said that we can't force her to turn it off. I was completely
okay with that. Haha she has a dog that is so cute. He's brown and
short with long brown hair. His name is Chewie like Chewbacca! He
LOVES me for some reason and climbs up in my lap and lays on his back
the whole time I'm over there.
1-11-16
For PDay today, we went to the Darlington Raceway with the zone
leaders and walked through the museum. We got to go out on the track
with a guy that works there and he drove his car on the track. We got
up to 120mph... It was awesome! Then we took our picture at the
victory lane. We have been so busy so that's why my email is later. We
are waiting to go out to eat with a member at a Mexican restaurant.

I love you!
-Elder Mitchell

1/4/16

12-26-15
Today was very non eventful.. We went to go see an inactive member
(Sis. Mason) and we did a lot of service for her. We found a cool guy
named Brian and taught him about the Restoration. There was also a
lady that was hardcore hitting on us trying to get us inside. I was
pretty uncomfortable. We just decided to leave. Haha
Our dinner plans were cancelled, so I cooked some hamburgers. To end
the day, we went to an inactive member's named Donnie. He doesn't know
much about the gospel and I question if he even has a testimony. I
feel bad because previous missionaries seemed to rush him through
everything so that could he could just be a number. So we have a lot
of work to do with him still. Howard can't come to church because he's
sick. It was a rough day. I gave E. Siebers a blessing because we are
going through a trial. But after every trial, there's great things to
come!

12-31-15
I have unfortunately, missed a lot of days being able to write in my
journal. I have been so busy! We moved into a new apartment and it's
so much nicer. We cleaned a ton when we got here. We also went to
Cheraw the other day because E. Siebers had to do an interview for a
baptism. We stayed the night and then went to our district meeting in
the morning with them. After that, we went on exchanges with the zone
leaders. I stayed in Hartsville with Elder Arnoldsen. He's the senior
companion district leader. He also an awesome guy! I was able to learn
a lot from him and he said he learned from me. He told me that I'm
already a "4th Missionary." Don't ask why, but we decided to drink raw
eggs since neither one of us have before. Haha but never again! After
an awesome dinner (BBQ Ribs), we went to go see Michael Langdon. He
has been praying to decided is he should go back to the LDS church.
Here's the crazy part; he had a dream of his dad (who was a member)
telling him that he needs to go back to the LDS church! It was really
neat to hear. We taught him a really good lesson with him and then
committed him to come to church this Sunday! He will if he does t have
to work!
It rained on and off all day today. It was still a good day! Some
drunk black guy we approached today was a trip! He kept saying; "Gimme
a hug man!" Haha
Clemson played in the Orange Bowl against OU today and beat them! I
wore my new Clemson tie to support them. (Probably why they won
because the Lord was on their side). Haha but we have been locked in
since 6pm because of New Year's Eve. The apartment is spotless now and
we are all unpacked.

1-1-16
This morning, we got to do some service for a nonmember guy named
Pete. His wife is the Relief Society president. He is such a nice guy
and we are trying to work with him to take the discussions. We went to
his house and helped dig ditches so we could lay down pipes for a
sprinkler system and a pipe from his shop bathroom to the septic tank.
Later tonight, we went to the Solomon's to have dinner. They invites a
family member and her boyfriend over there. We taught them the
Restoration and watched the video. They seem like really cool people!
I hope they felt the spirit as much as I did during the lesson.

1-2-16
We helped Pete again for a bit and got a lot done! It's finally
starting to get a little chilly. Daniel Thompson was able to come out
with us for a bit! We had some appointments, but they kind of fell
through. We were still able to teach some people!
Later, we met a guy named Jeff who we knocked into. He was really neat
and spot on with our beliefs! He also, was watching the Oregon Bowl
game so it was hard to teach the lesson when I wanted to watch it so
badly! I was able to catch some glimpses of it and they were looking
pretty good! Hopefully we can sit down with him again soon!

I love you!
-Elder Mitchell

12/28/15

12-21-15

A nonmember (Frank) took us out to eat at this really good Mexican restaurant. He is such a great guy. After we ate, he took us to Belk to pick something out that we need/want. He wouldn't let me leave the store without anything so I got a Carhartt beanie with a built in face shield for when it gets cold on the bike. I can just pull down the mask from under the beanie! I won't need it for awhile because it's supposed to be about 80° on Christmas Day...

After that, we went to Walmart to get groceries. We bought a mini Christmas tree for the apartment. While we were getting our groceries, Frank was getting a bunch of stuff too. When he took us to our apartment, he told us everything he got was for us too! He had bought bacon, hamburger meat, Ribeye steaks, Reese's Puffs cereal, poptarts and all kinds of other stuff! After we dropped that off, he took us to our haircut appointments and paid for those as well. I felt bad because he kept spending money on his, but he kept on insisting! He wouldn't take no for an answer. Haha he just kept talking about how the Lord is going to bless him.

 

12-22-15

A young man in our ward named Daniel Thompson cam and spent the whole day with us today. He came over at 8am to study, then left at 10pm. He's a great kid. And tried to keep up on his bike. Haha! We made sure to set appointments so we could sit down and teach with him there. We met a really neat lady with kids who seemed interested and open to what we have to say. We rescheduled to see her another time. We also taught a kid named Jawan who is actually, in one of Daniel's classes. So that worked out well. We were able to set a date for baptism with him! We got a total of 4 member presents just today! Daniel is going to be a great missionary. He really looks up to us.

 

12-23-15

Today, we set out to find new investigators who are prepared to be taught. We met some neat people! There were these two black guys outside of their work sitting there and we were able to teach them. After the short lesson, we found out that one of them is Blaeton's (a lady we've been working with) husband!

It has been raining on and off all day. We had a nonmember call us asking to go give her husband a blessing who is in the hospital. We went there and were also able to set up a time to sit down with them when they get out. There was a black nurse that came in and CHEWED us out for walking around her neighborhood so late at night (it was only about 7pm). She told us that it's not safe and we could get shot. Haha she was just mad because we scared her really bad that she ran in the house. I said; "yeah, we're some pretty scary people!"

 

12-24-15

Merry Christmas Eve! We got to go and celebrate at some members' house. There was around 52 people there. Everyone had brought food too, so there was a TON. They all got together and read Christmas stories. All the children dressed up for a nativity skit. After that, it was a frenzy to open presents. Sis. Catoe got me a pair of thermal pants to wear under my slacks if it even gets cold! It was almost 80° today! This is not the kind of Christmas weather I'm used to. Haha

After that, we went to Patti and Dave's. They cooked hot wings, ribs and sweet potato casserole. Everyone here is so kind for the most part! Another member dropped off some presents for us at the apartment. I got a new bike light because the other one I had broke. Also, there was a lady that honked, drove by and blew us a kiss today... It was awkward. Haha

 

12-25-15

I was so glad I got to FaceTime with my family today. I miss them a lot. They have been such a blessing to me and a big support! After that, we got to go eat lunch at the Haney's. He played his guitar and sang Christmas songs! One of them was a song that he wrote, Christmas in Dixie and many other songs. He's really good! After that, he dropped us off at the Solomon's who gave a whole bunch of candy for Christmas. We got back to the apartment and got to take a short nap for about 20 min, until the Lillian's picked us up to go to their house. They fed us and gave us the presents from the ward! I got a really nice little blender so I can make smoothies. I got some ties (a Clemson one), a pair of slacks, socks, more poptarts, and more junk food! Haha

We all gathered and shared our testimonies. Their oldest daughter visiting got back from her mission about a year ago. She served in Vítoria, Brazil and knew Dane! I thought that was pretty neat. We went to another member's house (The Laffidy's) where we got some more gifts like a little carnival shooting game.

 

Our district met all of the goals for key indicators except one! E. Siebers and I got 5 member present lessons just this week!

 

I love you!

-Elder Mitchell

12/21/15

12-14-15
PDay was awesome! We rode with the Cheraw Elders to Florence to go to
Buffalo Wild Wings. Four more Elders met up with us as well. It was
finally my chance to catch up on some stats and highlights with all
the TVs there. Haha the Panthers are doing so good this year! It's
awesome to hear about. Cam Newton is an animal. People love their
football out her. I could honestly see myself living out here later in
life. After BDubs, we went to the mall and walked around for awhile.
It was weird because of how worldly it was! Haha

12-15-15
Today was a sad day because we had to say goodbye to our good friends;
the Weibels.   They are moving back home to Ohio. We helped them pack
everything up in a moving van. That included three of us pushing two
motorcycles up the ramp! I'm glad we got to help because there wasn't
anyone else there to help them. A neighbor of theirs came over to say
goodbye. He's an old man who has the funniest pug named Pete. Pete the
Pug. Haha his eyes were huge! They bought us pizza for lunch which was
really good. Then for dinner, we went out to eat with the Laffidy's at
a local family owned restaurant (Ruth's). I got a bacon cheeseburger
of course! We met this really nice lady named "Blaeton." We are gonna
teach her on Thursday!

12-16-15
We had an appointment with a lady named Wanda. She was the lady that
was reading the BoM when we happened to be in her area. The lesson
went really well! Her daughter named Tía sat in too. We taught her
about the BoM and the history of it. We also read it with her. She
said; "I already know it's true!" After the lesson, we committed her
to be baptized on January 16th. We also got to meet with the Landlord
today and we're going to go look at newer apartments we might move in
tomorrow! The one we live in is so out of date. On our way home for
the night, we stopped by Patti and Dave's who are the nonmembers who
fed us on Thanksgiving. We were able to talk her into letting us help
set up Christmas Decorations in and around her house. She didn't have
any up, so she was happy we helped.

12-17-15
It rained most of the day today... We met a lot of really neat people
though! We met a lady from Memphis who has been though a lot in her
life. Her mom was Mormon during her life, so she is very familiar with
is. We had a long talk with her. Heavenly Father definantly led us to
her. She wants to lead more, so we gave her a pamphlet and a card to
call missionaries in her area.

12-18-15
We did a lot of tracting today. We met some interesting people today
in the ghetto. This one guy claimed that he is the devil himself. He
was contradicting everything he was saying about there not being a
God.
A member family had us over for Pork Chops! After dinner, we got to
meet up with another member who went out to go teach a couple lessons
with us. We got to see Blaeton and teach her the Plan of Salvation. We
asked her to commit to being baptized when she come to know what we
taught her is true. She accepted! Then, we went to go see a guy named
Michael Langdon who we have been meeting with for awhile. He grew up
in the church, but fell away from it when he was 17. He joined the
Army and later, became a member of another church. We had such a
spiritual lesson with him. The spirit helped guide us to say all the
right things. The member we brought (Bro. Lillian) is a convert who
used to be in the Navy. He bore a really powerful testimony of how he
came to know this was the true church. He shared Alma  32:28 and now
that a huge part in his conversion. It helped him recognize how the
Spirit felt. We didn't get around to our lesson plan at all. It's
amazing how the Spirit can direct the lesson to other things that we
should teach instead. He needed this lesson and I think it really
helped him! I know he felt the Spirit and I know he can find out it's
true for himself!

12-19-15
It was probably the coldest day so far today. We stopped by a
potential that we have been teaching for awhile and his son talked to
us for a loong time. He was pretty crazy. Haha he didn't even stop to
take a breath for about an hour straight. He rambled on about the most
random things. We finally, got out of there and went to go see an
inactive lady to go do some service for her. She gave us Christmas
cards with money in them! To end this night, we went to Sis. Catoe's
and ate dinner with her and her family. Then, we went to the ward
mission leader's home to share a message with them. They're a funny
family. One of his son's works at a funeral home and is a mortician...
He told us some pretty interesting stories!
I love you!
-Elder Mitchell

11/16/15

Dad-

First I would like to apologize for not being able to talk as much at the airport. I could hardly get any words out because I was just so happy to talk to you guys. I miss you and mom so much. Another thing is that if you guys are going to send any packages, it has to be "priority mail" otherwise, they hold it until we have transfers again. Idk if you guys have my address but it is, "South Carolina Columbia Miss. 110 Oak Park Dr. STE. B Irmo, SC 29063" I love you so much dad and thank you for your letters of encouragement. 

11-9-15

11-10-15

After a long night of no sleep at all, I am on the plane heading to Georgia and then SC! I'm nervous and don't really know what all to expect, but I have been praying for reassurance. Last night, an Elder in my zone (Elder Leota) from Hawaii was talking about how he was in the Army before he ,eft and got stationed to Africa. He worked as a Minesweeper and would also, disengage warheads. He told me a little bit about his time in Africa. He was hit was shrapnel because a mine went off about 15 ft. away from him. Someone stepped on it and that someone was his cousin. He said this there was basically, no remains of him... His brother was also there and he was a sniper. The civilians would walk out there in the minefield to try and tell them to leave because they thought the field was haunted. His brother would have to snipe them before they stepped on any mines. No on in his family even knows he's on his mission including his girlfriend who is on a mission too. They just think that he is gone for work. He didn't really say why he didn't tell them, but that would be so hard. He's 23 years old and doesn't have any support while he's on his mission. Elder Jones and I were talking to him and he just started tearing up. He told us what made him to decide to go and was a parable of the rich man who refused to give up his riches. He went on to say that he has noticed at the MTC that his story isn't any better or worse than anyone else's. Everybody has their own story that is most important to them. He's such a humble and inspiring guy. 

We had to leave the MTC at 3:30 this morning, so I just stayed up talking to the Elders in my zone. I loved the MTC because of how it was a brotherhood. We all come from different backgrounds, and different parts of the country, but we are all there for the same exact purpose. To invite others to come closer to Christ. 

We eventually, landed safely in SC and our mission Pres. was there to pick us up! Him and his wife are so kind. I love them already. We are staying at the mission home tonight. There was a little orientation and pictures. Then after that, we had an amazing home cooked meal! Tomorrow we are going to the church and getting assigned to our companions and areas. I am very nervous, but I have been praying to get a good trainer for my first companion. Pres. Turner challenged us all to start the BoM over, so I am going to read it front to back. 

11-11-15

Transfer Day! All of the missionaries gathered in the church in Irmo, SC. I have been assigned to "Hartsville" which is a fairly small town. We are just riding bikes and there are a lot of hills! My trainer is Elder Hyrum Siebers. He is such an awesome guy and definantly, an answer to my prayers. He is getting ready to finish up his mission in about March. He doesn't want to go home though. Haha! We are living in a little duplex. After transfers, a couple from the Hartsville ward took us out to eat at a southern restaurant. I can tell that I am going to be fed really well here! Good thing I'm on my bike so I don't fatten up! I really like my bike! It's light and has good tires. We went out tracting the first day and my butt is already sore from the bike! It's gonna take some getting used to. Haha

11-12-15

We woke up bright and early to go running. It was pretty exhausting! Then later, we rode our bikes to the whole other side of our area to teach this guy. We had a lesson planned and rode all the way out there, but he wasn't home... He doesn't have a phone so we couldn't get ahold of him. 

I was able to finally get a Mountain Dew! I hadn't had a one since I left for the MTC. They only had caffeine free pop, so I just settled with root beer there. It was the best Mountain Dew I've ever had! Haha

The weather here has been so nice during the day, but it gets really chilly at night when we are riding our bikes. We probably rode about 25 miles just today. We were tracting pretty much all day and my butt is killing me! I'm very hesitant to put that "deep blue" stuff on there because it's more towards the grown area...

11-13-15

Today has been one of those days where things just don't go the way you quite want them to. We had a member go out with us this morning, but all the people we planned to visit weren't home. It hurt our pride a little. Haha Oh! And people like to honk and flip us off. We just smile and wave! One thing I have noticed about Hartsville is that it's mainly old people and they have their minds set on religion already. It's a pretty tough area! *Challenge accepted* We were eating at a family owned diner and saw on the TV about the terrorist attacks in London. That is so sad... We have kept them in our prayers. I feel like I am so disconnected from the world! But that isn't always a bad thing. 

11-15-15

Today I got to go to sacrament meeting and meet all the awesome people in the ward! There are about 200 people in the ward. We taught a guy last night who was on something and completely out of it. It was interesting to say the least! He was a really nice guy and he opened up to us. He seemed pretty interested in the church. He really needs some direction in his life. His mom was murdered (shot in the head) when he was 13 and he found her. He doesn't know his real dad either. He's had a rough life and my heart goes out to him. There are some really nice neighborhoods and then a couple blocks down, it'll go straight to ghetto. Yesterday we met a couple guys who live in a couple tiny trailers. They were in the same area. We said prayers with both of them before we left. 

We went to a family's house from the ward and they made really good pasta! I shared 2 Nephi 31:19-20 with them before we left. 

11/10/15

 With his mission president, President Judd A. Turner and his wife. They sent these pictures to Mom and Dad when their district arrived.