Excerpt from Josh's email September 23- Lately i have had a lot of things on my mind. Mostly about my Patriarchal blessing. It's kinda crazy. It blows my mind how real it all is.  I have been reading the scriptures a lot too. I have been cooking a little lately. I made Biscuits and gravy the other night and i made a turkey the week before. It was really great! We have been teaching a couple people but they have things that keep holding them back from baptism. It's hard to see. It's life though. We all have things that we struggle with, we aren't perfect and we won't be perfect in this life. That is why our Heavenly Father sent his son Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that it is real and isn't just something that is nice to talk about. I wish i could do more to show my gratitude for it. I have been reading a lot in this thing called the GKLM Atonement Packet which is something our mission president put together for all of the missionaries. It's basically a bunch of talks and things that talk about the atonement. Did I tell you all to read 2 Nephi 4? I love that chapter. It's so great. There is just so much good stuff in the Book of Mormon!! I could sit here all day long and just tell you some of my favorite scriptures and why they are important to me and hopefully someday i will actually get to do that. That's what we can do the first night i'm back. I love the scriptures and knowing what a difference they can make in our lives and everyone's life if we are just willing to study, learn and apply what we learn from the scriptures. 2 Timothy 3:14-15 I believe talks about what the scriptures are for. To become wise unto salvation. We know Salvation cometh only through our Savior Jesus Christ, and his Gospel. We read in 2 Nephi 31 what his gospel includes. Faith, Repentance, Baptism for the remission of sins, Receiveing the gift of the Holy Ghost, And last Enduring to the End. 2 Nephi 31:20. I love the scriptures, and i have learned so much from them. I have also started reading Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage. It's a super good book. I love to study the life of the savior. When we do, we can build a stronger relationship with him. I am so very grateful for my mission. I take it for granted and sometimes i wish i was at home, but i know where i am supposed to be. Sometimes i think i don't want to come home. Sounds crazy but I know i am going to miss it when i have to leave. The time that we have to serve the lord, as it says in the white handbook, is extremely short. At first i didn't really think so. but now i totally understand. 2 years is such a short amount of time. I am almost half way and it kinda scares me. I know the Lord is shaping me to become the person he needs me to be. I hope that i will be able and willing to continually do what the lord wants me to do. I love the Gospel and I love and am so grateful to be on a mission. I love you! :)

September 21-I really liked this talk a lot and i wanted you all, if you haven't already, to read Mikes talk he gave in stake conference. It truly is amazing how the Lord works within us and uses us to bless the lives of others. Here is a story from the talk.

Grandma Self -Visiting Teacher

I remember the first time my Mom was called as a visiting teacher.  We lived on a farm in an area between two small towns, Romney and Springfield, West Virginia. There were 27 members in our area so Dad would hold home Sunday School for our family and the other members who lived nearby.  The closest Branch of the church was in Cumberland, Maryland about 25 miles away. One day a sister came from the branch of the church in Cumberland to call my mom to be a visiting teacher.  She was assigned  to visit several sisters in our area.   My mom had never driven a car and Dad took the only car we had to work each day so it would not be possible for her to drive to deliver the messages in person. 

At that time the Relief Society sisters received a magazine each month called the Relief Society Magazine which included the message they were to share each month.  Since Mom had many chores to do each day on the farm and six children to take care of, it was always later in the evening when she would find the time to sit down and begin to write out by hand the entire message to send to one of the sisters on her list.  Since she had 4 or 5 sisters to contact it would mean she would sit for long periods for several nights writing out each message in its entirety.  There was only one 40 watt bulb on the ceiling in each room.  I can remember the difficulty she had reading the small print in the little magazine. 

One of the messages she mailed each month went to the home of a sister whose husband would not allow her to have any contact with the church.  She was not even permitted to say the name of the church to anyone or to speak of it.  She could not mention the name of God or Jesus Christ.  So this sister had requested her message be sent to her next door neighbor who would keep the message for her and would let her read it in her home.  Years passed and my mom continued to send her message to her neighbor not knowing if it was ever read. 

It was about 40 years later that Mom learned the rest of the story.  She acquired a book called “The History of the Church in West Virginia”.  One day as we were reading the book together we read a story of a woman who could not have any reminders of religion in her home.  The story was told by her son.  He said his mother was a very good woman who never used bad language, was patient, never drank coffee or used any substances.  He said she was good to her neighbors and loving to her family and she respected her husband’s wishes and never mentioned God nor religion.  After she and her husband died the next door neighbor shared with the son the story of how each month a letter would come from a woman over near Romney.  She would give the letter to his Mom and she would read and reread the messages.  This woman did not know the name of the church or the woman who sent them.

The son said he began to look for the church that had meant so much to his mother.  He went from church to church trying to find the one.  One day in his search for her religion he went into a church and as the congregation began to sing he immediately recognized the music.  It was the same piece his mother played on her piano.  He had asked her many times what it was because when she played it, she played it with so much feeling, but she would just smile at him.  He said as he listened to the music in the church the spirit came over him so strong that tears flowed down his face as he realized he had found something that has meant so much to his Mother.  The hymn was “Come Come Ye Saints” a hymn he found out could only be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Her son became a member of the church that meant so much to her.

Now 40 plus years later, my Mother sat with tears streaming down her cheeks as she realized how much her sacrifice in writing out those messages, when she was tired, and in dim lighting, had meant in bringing  a bright ray of light into the life of this good woman. 

Brothers and Sisters we answer the Savior one sheep or lamb at a time.  

Excerpt from Josh's email Sept. 9- I have been reading Jesus the Christ i just started it the other day.I'm on chapter 4. It's really good. I was reading somewhere that we need to study the life of Jesus Christ so i decided that was a good way to do it. I have also been reading the Book of Mormon as always. I love the Book of Mormon. It's got so many great things in it. Just all the scriptures there are a lot of good things. My scripture i wrote in my planner for this transfer is Ephesians 6:12. It's a really good one. I have a testimony of that for sure. That's why i have been trying to strengthen my testimony, because that is the armor that is what gives us strength, Sister Sheppard sent me something too that helped it was about testimony and how we need to use it or we will lose it. In preach my gospel it talks about our testimony builds a protection or armor around us, which is so true. I know that as we are obedient to the commandments of the lord we are blessed and we become free. I have been pretty busy lately. We have a lot of work to do here. We need to go contacting and also tracting more.  Next month i will be gone 1 year! Pretty nuts! It really goes by so fast i can't even believe it! I have learned and grown so much on my mission. 

 Excerpt from Josh's email September 3-This Thursday we get to go to the temple! The mission has been really good. It is hard at times but i know it will all be worth it in the end. We have a lot of people that we are starting to teach.  I enjoy it. I feel like I am converting myself more than i'm helping others a lot of the time. It's good though. 

Excerpt from Josh's letter August 26th-Quite a bit has happened this week that we are really excited about. We have been working with the ward a lot more lately and trying to earn their trust more. We have been meeting with a lot of members and a lot of them have been giving us solid refferals. We have contacted and set up times to come see them. One of which is a family from Congo. They are such nice people. It is a Part Member family. The oldest sister is a member and her son is also a member. The rest of the family are not members. Two of her sisters now have baptism dates for next  month. They are great people, one is 14 and the other is 17. Our other investigator with a baptism date is in her 30's. She is a really nice lady. She just recently lost her 6 year old son in a car accident and we read from the Book of Mormon with her in Alma 7:11-13 and told her Christ knows what she is going through. It brought a lot of comfort to her and we have been teaching her and she has a baptism date in September.

The work is starting to pick up a little bit. We are excited. It's always better when you have something to do. I like to stay busy, keeps me out of trouble. Well I'm glad everything is going well back home.  I Love and Miss you all! I will talk to you next week :) I love you!

Excerpt from Josh's letter August 19-Hey! So lately my companion and i have been super busy!! Like it's nuts! We have had tons of meetings to go to and i have to always prepare trainings and things and it's crazy! We have found a lot of really cool people lately. It's been really cool! Missionary work is just really amazing to see the lords hand in it is truly amazing! I ate a burger the other day at Meadowthorpe Cafe that consisted of an egg, a doughnut, and bacon. It was super good it's called a spalding burger.  I haven't been reading as much from the Book of Mormon as i used to. I am in Jacob though. I'm on the really long chapter in Jacob. It's really good though. The more I read it the more i get from it. Daniel Wrote me an Email that was really nice to hear from him! I love hearing from you all. It's week 5 in the transfer now so next week i get the call to find out everyone's fate. I'm pretty sure i am staying. Oh I stained a deck the other day and mowed this ladies lawn for her. I told you all that i fixed the shifter cable for a lady the other day. That was really neat because she was just right there in the middle of the road right after we got down teaching a lesson. Did i tell you all that i gave a talk in sacrament the other week? I had to give a talk on the Commandments Lesson 4 in preach my gospel it was really good. Giving talks now isn't a scary thing at all it's really normal actually.I don't freak out as much as i did. I remember the one thing i didn't really wanna do was give my farewell talk.Now i don't even mind it. I give a training every week in district meeting which i really enjoy. I get to teach and also learn at the same time. I really like it, it's a lot of fun. We have some people that we are teaching. If people would just experiment as it says in Alma 32 they would come to know that it is true. Everyone that has ever done it with true intent has come to know that it is true. I wish everyone would just read and pray and know that it is true. It all makes sense. The mission is a really interesting time of life. I don't even know how to explain it. I have literally been set apart from the world and it's a crazy thing. The adversary works on the righteous harder and harder because if he can get to us he can get to everyone. He is just as real as God is. I've been reading my patriarchal blessing a lot and it's really, really interesting. I love it. It is another testimony to me that the church is true, I know it is, and i will never be able to deny it. My mission so far has shaped me into a different person, for the better. It has helped me more than i think i have helped others.  I wish i would have listened more.  I was like Laman and Lemuel even after seeing miracles i still didn't hold strong, but now like Alma the younger i have been made strong, and have become a tool in the lords hands, maybe a dull tool but hopefully someday a sharper one. But i love my mission. At times i get frustrated with it  but all in all i don't think i would have ever learned the things that i know now if it weren't for my mission. I am so grateful for it and for the opportunity to serve the lord. I know when the time comes to come home i will be happy to go home but also sad that i will no longer wear the distinct black name tag. But i will forever be a missionary. I love you guys!

Excerpt from Josh's email August 13- We have had a lot of really good meetings lately. Two members of the seventy came out and spoke to us. I have had a lot of meetings that i have been attending now that i am in leadership. It's kinda crazy but it's a lot of fun. I really enjoyed hearing what they had to say. Oh i got a shoulder bag so you don't need to get me one. One of the members here gave it to me. We were cleaning out his garage and he said i could have it ,it was cool! It's from Italy he got it in the 60's. It's pretty great! Oh i gave a talk in sacrament the other day on the commandments. It was good. We all spoke on the missionary lessons. It was really good. It really is going by fast we are already into week four of the transfer! kinda blows my mind! I love you!