Trabalhos

MISSION HOME IS NO LONGER FORWARDING MAIL - PLEASE SEND HANDWRITTEN LETTERS TO MY APARTMENT: 

Elder Tyler Welch

825 Powder Springs St. 

Marietta, GA 30064

Apartment # 1202

Queirdo Familia e amigos! 

Well well well... Where to start this week.

First, it's good to hear that dad is doing well. I've been praying a lot for him this past week. It's kind of scary being out of the loop and not knowing what's going on throughout an entire week. I've heard some pretty crazy stories with families just by talking to people and it makes me want to make sure my family is safe. Haha so some more information from the fam next week would be awesome. Mom... That photobook you sent me is straight up MONEY. I love it! Haha it's gold (or should I say, "antion of gold..." I actually tried doing some of the math with the Nephite currency this morning during personal study (see Alma 11) - yeah, I know... I've got problems. It's kind of awesome at the same time though because my jokes are completely Bible/Book of Mormon jokes now. Anyway, I was showing some of the pictures to investigators this week and one of them was like, "Ooohh! SOoo pretty!!" haha every time there was a picture of Ashley or Brittany. Oh and Mom... She thought you were my sister too! That's right baby. "Nail it" for looking young! Haha and then she kept commenting on how I look like Dad..... I actually woke up a couple weeks ago dead tired, washing my face to try to open my eyes, and I looked at myself in the mirror and started screaming. I'm starting to look like Dad! Haha it's weird thinking I'm a "grown-up." I feel like I'm still in High School, especially when I see the high school kids and challenge them to a basketball game in my white shirt and tie. They think I'm old and not cool.. Pshhh, yeah right. But anyway, I told her that she's wrong, that dad looks like me (not the other way around), my mom looks like she's 30 and my sisters are beautiful. Oppp, sorry Matt and Dustin - no comments from investigators abt you.

Okay, so this week. Man, the days start to blend together it's hard to know what's going on. And before I start, let me just tell you how PUMPED I am for General Conference. I seriously feel like a Cameron Crazie or someone in the background of the student section on College Gameday. I jump up and down in the morning, "ohhh whoooo ohhh whooo oh oh oh, ohhh whooo ohhh whoooo oh uh ohh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh, oh, oh..." Haha hopefully you can sound that out. But that's how I feel about hearing the Prophet speak this weekend. It's more exciting than Christmas. In fact, I might run down the church hall way and start screaming when I get in to the chapel like we do at our house on Christmas morning down the hallway. Oh I also found out that America might go to war? It's weird being so out of the loop of things, especially with college football. At first I was like, "Man! I don't know anything. But now my perspective on things has totally changed on what's really important in life. Faith, repentance, making and keeping covenants to have the Holy Ghost with you and change you, and simply enduring to the end. I love that quote by Brad Wilcox- "Life's hard, not the Gospel." My view on life has totally been changed since I've been out, it's awesome. (I did heard Ohio State is #2 though, right behind Alabama. GO BUCKKSSHHH!!)

I never would have thought missions would be so hard. I'm not going to lie, there's some days while you're out here and you don't want to work. You lose motivation. People reject, laugh, slam doors, hit you (kind of... Haha a guy thought I was trying to fight him and got up in my face after hitting my arm away. I raised it up to hit a bug out of the way), etc. But then there's some times like Sister Franklin this week where you feel like you're on top of the world. I've probably never been so down on myself in my life - thinking why can't I connect with people better, understand a scripture, or not grow frustrated with my companion - and then there's little "pockets" of time where the happiest moment in my life gets raised to the nth power (that one's for Mr. M-CAT). I seriously have had some moments here in Georgia where I can't say anything because I'm so happy. The actual definition of speechless. It's awesome. For instance, Sister Franklin:

We rode by on our bikes past her and her two young kids this week. We stopped to talk to her and when I did, I instantly thought, "oh man, what am I doing... she's homeless." She was looking for a bathroom for her kids to use because they had to go really bad. I led her to a Port-a-John around the corner and then simply invited her to church on Sunday. She didn't have a car and she was staying with her friend, so she wouldn't give us an address to pick her up. I told her to meet us at a local library at 8:30 on Sunday so we could pick her up. As we pulled up and were waiting there for a few minutes sunday morning, I saw a woman trekking down the sidewalk a way's a way with two car seats in her arms and pushing a stroller. I seriously was so excited. "SHE CAME!!!" I jumped out of the car, slammed the door behind me, and ran to her. I grabbed all of her luggage, her suitcase with her clothes in it, a grocery bag with food, and the car seats ( I don't know how she was able to carry all of that). I seriously was so happy I don't know how to describe it. After church, I started talking to her and found out that she's homeless only because she's running from an abusive relationship right now. It's incredibly terrible some of the things her ex husband did to her and her two young kids. As I sat there talking to her after church, my views changed and I really started connecting with her. Things just started making sense. She then told me that she was from Ohio... Boom. Tears came rolling down my face to match her already pool full of tears. The Spirit was strong and told me that she was the reason I'm in Georgia right now. Man, what an incredible lady. I love her 

I wish I could tell you more about her but I have to go. Dad I love you! Hope you get better soon. And to mom, the rest of the family, and friends/teachers/lunch ladies - keep being awesome. I love you all

Elder Welch

Milagres

Miracles, I tell ya... Miracles...

First off, this week was REESE'S BIRTHDAY!!! YEEEEEEEE!! It made me sad on Thursday thinking it was her birthday because she kept asking me all the way up until I left on my mission if I could please fly home just for her birthday. Man, she's getting so OLD! Haha I miss her laugh and her just saying, "Tyler, beat Boston up!" or "Telephone, Telephone." And then her laughing every time... Haha tell her that I love her and miss her. She's awesome 

Mikaela's mission call... WHOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I'm so pumped for her. The city of "Lost Wages," 'ey? Haha that's so awesome. It makes me so happy when I get an email about people getting their calls. Dad, keep those coming from the Stake and if anyone asks, tell them that I said they're awesome.

All right, so who wants to hear some miracles and just shout out, "Hurrah for Israel!" I do. .... (just did)  The lady I told you about last week, the one who has been smoking for about 45 years religiously, not missing a day. We reviewed the Word of Wisdom with her and then told her that she couldn't be baptized until she had quit smoking cigarettes for at least 10 days (that's not a rule, just what we felt comfortable with. The church policy I think might be a week). "What! That's not fair guys! I can't do this then. I won't get baptized... I can't quit smoking..." Chapter 5 of Preach My Gospel is probably my favorite chapter. I just absolutely love the Book of Mormon. Aghhh I can't tell you how much it means to me. I almost wish I could redo my farewell talk so I could really share publicly to all my friends really what and how much the BoM means to me. Anyway, the reason I said that is because I carry it around with me almost anywhere I go. You know the scripture in Ephesians 6 of the armor of God? My weapon is the BoM, not a sword... Pshhh, who needs a sword when you have a Book of Mormon. Anyway (x2), I always try to read something from it with an investigator during a lesson. With this lady, I compared her to Nephi in a couple different chapters focusing on just being obedient to God's commandments and "way" will be provided. I came up with this schedule for her and wrote in on her calendar that hangs on their family room apartment wall. Each day I wrote the max amt of cigarettes she could smoke really big on it. We also discussed some other things. Anthony, her boyfriend for 25+ years (I believe I wrote abt her last week) came in after we left around 8:50ish and was questioning what I did to their calendar. Whoops! Haha but he laughed at her! What! Haha seriously, he laughed at her because he's known that she has smoked everyday since she was 14 and there was no quitting. Well well well.... We had a lesson the next day after the blessing with her. We picked her up with a member and she was sitting in the front and told us her "stomach reeaaaallllyyy hurts today." She continued and a little bit later she said, "Oh my... I'm getting sick from cigarettes. They make me SICK! This happened after I smoked both of the ones I smoked." Everyday after then, she would pick up a cigarette and get really sick when she would start smoking. A few days later we were sitting down (I think Friday and she said, "Guys, this is incredible. It's just incredible. I don't even have a desire to smoke anymore." After that blessing, reading from the BoM everyday and fervent prayer, guess who just quit smoking in 6 days? YEEESSSSSSSSS!!!! I just called her on the phone before coming here and she didn't smoke ONE CIGARETTE yesterday! I told her how proud of her we were of her and the help from the Lord she received. Anthony yesterday realized that she had quit and started laughing at her. I asked her on the phone what he said. The only thing he said to her after laughing was, "That's unbelievable..." Holy cow I'm so excited for her. She asked Anthony if they could get married (it's the better thing to do, they've forgiven each other of everything and we feel comfortable with it from prayer) and he said he would consider. Uh oh... Looks like I might be planning a wedding soon.

Sister Deborah Thomas:

We met her two weeks ago with about 90 minutes of tracting to do. We didn't have much time to go finding but I felt strongly to ride 20 minutes to this apartment complex I saw the other day and go knock those doors. It didn't make much sense bc we would waste 40-45 minutes of the time riding on our bikes just in travel time before it was 9:00pm and we had to be inside. I couldn't deny the prompting so we went anyway. After getting there and only about 40-45 minutes to knock doors (we had a zone training this day which took up the entire day) we said a prayer. "We know there's someone here who is ready. Please lead us to them as we represent Thy Son."

After the prayer we were led to a door kind of around this corner- which is odd when I think about it because it wouldn't make sense to start there. We knocked on that first door and a lady started yelling from the inside. "WHO IS IT!??" Ohhh great... I thought. They're going to tell us to leave from behind the door. I just said, "Representatives!" Haha. After a few more things she was yelling from her apartment kitchen, she walked to the door and opened it.

"Hi ma'am, thank you for opening the door. We are representatives of the Lord, Jesus Christ and he has sent us here, specifically to you. As His...." Her head dropped as she looked at the ground. She reached both arms out to us with her palms opened and waved us in...

I didn't know what to think. "Uhhh... I'm sorry ma'am..." I cleared up the rule about not entering the house unless there was another male present out of respect for her. She was living with a few other ladies so we couldn't go in. She seemed understanding and said, "Okay." She stepped out of the door.

She started crying and told us that she just got off the phone 15 minutes ago from her family that her nephew, one she absolutely adored, died unexpectedly. I'm not sure of the exact details but it was a random, out of the blue death that surprised everyone. She had been crying for those 15 minutes, you could tell. "I believe in Him. I prayed. And he sent me my angels..." Holy smokes that was powerful. I seriously "Teancum'ed javelin stabbed" by her saying that from the Spirit. She told us that she also can't find a job and that she's struggling financially. We left a blessing of comfort and felt impressed about her receiving a job. Two days later we called our ward employment specialist who came to our next lesson where we taught the Plan of Salvation. It was an awesome lesson. One of Sis Thomas' friends sat in on it and said, "Well thanks guys. This has been extremely enlightening." I told her it was the Spirit and the veil getting thin baby. In my head I kept saying "Oh yeah baby. Keep doing your thing Holy Ghost!" Haha He was definitely our companion in that lesson. Sooooo, we were riding our bikes past her apartment complex and an older lady comes running after us. "MYYY ANNGGELLLSSSSS!!" Haha she attacked me and hugged me. I tightened up again like a stick. Haha I felt so awkward just hugging a woman but after that greeting, she told us she got an interview lined up with a really good salary.

A few days later she called us saying she got the job...

The Church is true. The Priesthood has been restored. God lives and loves us. There's nothing He wants more than for us to come closer to Him

I was reading the testimony of Joseph Smith yesterday at church because I refused to take a Book of Mormon back from a guy named Clyde. He's 399 pounds and is going to get baptized! I just know it! Even though he refuses to talk about anything. We keep going back to talk to him and talking to him and he keeps trying to give me the Book of Momon back. I always put my hands behind my back or in my pockets. He gave it to Elder Peery one time and I took it from Elder Peery ad made him take it back. Anyway, pray for him. I feel strongly about him. The reason I said that though is because September 22 (yesterday) was the 180th year anniversary that Joseph Smith was able to finally take the plates and begin translating them.  I don't just know that that book is true but it has absolutely changed my life. It is the foundation of my testimony and the foundation of almost every lesson. I love it. Read it. Trust it's promise. And because it's true, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith was a prophet, the priesthood has been restored, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's Kingdom never to be taken off the earth again.

I love you all. Family, seriously. I can't tell you how much I love you. Being away from you just really makes me know how much I love you. Matt, keep being awesome. I was thinking this week that the best decision I ever made in high school was not playing baseball my senior year so I could work out and hang out with you. I love you especially. Miss you dude.

I'm happy. I'm seriously so happy here.

Love,

Elder Welch

"Get some 'TEANCUM' IN YOU!"

All right, please don't kill me... Haha I had so many emails I haven't read for a couple weeks... Soooo, I went through all of them and printed them off. So, I only have twenty minutes left to write. Sorry mom! I still love you! and I hope you got the pictures!

Okay, quick note: That package was DA BOMB!! I totally loved it! And the pictures... AGGHHHHHH!! Holy cow that made me so grateful. Seriously. And then the past few emails from David and Jd. Holy smokes I love those guys. Someone send me blakes mailing address so I can keep in touch with him. I keep having these day dreams where we all meet up after our missions (matt too) and we act like the sons of Mosiah- rejoicing because they are still my brethren in the Lord bc they give themselves to much fasting and prayer... You know the one. Haha I can't wait to see all of them. It seems like they're really doing well and I can't wait to hear where Blake goes.

And Jairus to Brazil! YEEEAAAAAAAAAA. That's so awesome.

All right, let's get down to business.

This Tuesday I went to the temple with my zone... I got so giddy to write in my journal after it. I learned FOUR new things! Haha I put that in all caps because it sounds so lame but they hit me so hard. I was so motivated after that I felt like screaming "Who wants Eternal Life to the whole state of Georgia?!"

Haha anyway, let me tell you about this week with a scripture that really caught my attention the other day during personal study.  Mosiah 18:26 - I read it the first time through and the words, "knowledge of God" stuck out to me. I was like, "waaaaitttt a minute. I wanna know how to have that knowledge." So, I read it again. (You might want to pull out your scriptures right now)

 -Through your Labor (Consecrating ALL) = Grace of God

 *Since the Grace of God literally can transform you into becoming that son or daughter of God that Heavenly Father wants you to become, as I talked abt with Brad Wilcox's talk... SO! Giving your all qualifies you for the    transforming agent to become more and more like Christ; which = waxing stronger in the Spirit

 -Waxing (wax on; wax off...) stronger in the Spirit = Knowledge of God, and

 -The Knowledge of God = Power and Authority from God.

Because I'm not sure if that made sense or not, let me try to illustrate it with a story.

So I was giving it "my all." Completely trying to devote every thought, action, word I said to the Lord and our "success" that we had planned for wasn't happening. We were meeting with an investigator who we've had multiple lessons with and introduced her to the Word of Wisdom and then Law of Chastity the next day; both of which are huge concerns because shes in her 60's and has been smoking cigarettes since she was 14 and has been living with her boyfriend for 24 years (they never got married but had two kids). On Friday we were discussing everything and then she started crying.

"I hate him. I don't like where I'm at. I'm on way too many perscriptions (shes bipolar as well) and sometimes feel like I want to go to sleep and never wake up... I also don't know how he has enough guts to sleep by me at night. I just want to kill him." (gulp)  Because of lack of time; it turns out he cheated on her and left her for another man for a year. She didn't have a job so was living in a homeless shelter. He came back to her a year later and wanted to get back together, so she said yes to get out of the shelter. She hates her life now, has had thoughts of suicide, murder, and a few other things.

Now, how am I, a nineteen year old guy who just graduated high school, whos never smoked a cigarette in my life and don't know how difficult it is to quit, whos gone on abt a total of 5 dates in all of high school, and who just entered the mission field supposed to respond to that??

Well, The Book of Mormon is true; that's how. I've been giving it literally everthing I have (so much so that I fall asleep almost every time we stop moving. I even fell asleep during my haircut last week! She was trying to hold my head still bc it kept bobbing up and down... haha), which have qualified me for these steps described in Mosiah 18.

I have an INCREDIBLE miracle that happened just this weekend that I can't wait to share, buuutttt I'll share it next week. Haha I'm out of time. Stay tune

I love you all. The Celestial Room is kind of empty without you. However, the picutres of Ashely and Brittany married in the temple, Dustin on his mission, and a few pics of Matt and I assure me that one day, we will all be able to return to our Heavenly Father and live in a state of never-ending happiness. I love you. I love my mission. And I love my Savior who made all of this possible

Elder Welch

Caridade

That's the lesson learned for the week. Seriously, the header of this email has changed my life - just by thinking a little bit about what I would write you all about this week has really changed me. (Btw, bc I remember always trying to pronounce things out loud in Spanish when Dustin would write home on his mission, you pronounce that word, "car-ree-da-ge." It means Charity.)

I wrote that on a little sticker and put it on the back of my nametag so I see it everyday. Let me explain myself.

My companion - 'Nuf said. There have been times in the past two weeks when I wanted to call President Monson and request him to transfer me. Sorry for speaking so harshly with him but at the end of this letter, hopefully you'll be able to capture a little bit about the person who I am now. I'm changing everyday and it feels so good. (a quick side story. When I was in the Atlanta Georgia airport flying to Utah for the MTC (I know, kinda ironic right?), there were a few missionaries there who were coming home. (which btw added acid, not just "salt", to the burn of having to say goodbye to you all just a few hours earlier because when I landed I had to walk through about 7 families cheering and yelling with signs of "WELCOME HOME ELDER....") anyway, I asked them if they could give me any advice, what would it be. One of the Elders told me this and for some reason it's really stuck with me. "Don't be afraid to change on your mission. But don't change for anyone but the Lord." I'm taking that to heart and I'm really changing. I wish you could see me through this computer as I type this- not for arrogant reasons or anything like that but I feel... I don't know... different. I feel good.)

So about my companion.. I literally wanted to call Dustin, break the mission rules, and ask him how in the world I deal with companions like him. He NEVER talks at any door approach. I walk up to people on the streets, in stores, even at red lights when people are on the phone talking (I'm trying to get that desire the Sons of Mosiah had when I can't bear the thought of anyone "burning in endless torment" (which btw is a metaphor, not to be taken literally - we have to clear up "Hell" all the time here because people seem to think it's a literal place with fire and brimstone and God doesn't want anything but to just drop us in it...) So I made a commitment that I would talk to everyone. It's such a burden and sometimes so frustrating, especially when people make fun of you, laugh at you, etc. but I'm hoping that I can say that I have that desire and love for people by the time I leave my mission.) Anyway, I keep getting off topic. My companion will stand behind me, look at the ground or just not pay attention when we're talking to people. I've had multiple conversations with him of how he's supposed to be my trainer and teach me how to do things. District meeting was straight up embarrassing because I didn't know half the stuff we were supposed to work on. I had one of the longest prayers with Heavenly Father this week when I was just pleading with Him to help me understand why in the world he's my "trainer". He even said in his own words that he felt I was training him. He got emotional one time and told me he didn't feel adequate which made me feel even worse... Haha I'm new to the mission field and my trainer tells me he feels like I'm training him while I have absolutely no idea what's going on. Anyway, the thought hit me - "You really think I would hold you back from being the best missionary you can be by having him train you... Just trust Me." I thought, and thought, and thought. I made an effort to just love him no matter what happens. To not grow frustrated and to have unwavering faith in why he is my companion.

So I started off on my way. Laughter is the best "cure" right? Not when your companion doesn't think you're funny... Haha SERIOUSLY! Worst insult ever. We were in the church and I said, "Elder, if I ask you a question, will you promise to tell me the exact truth?" He agreed. "Do you think I'm funny?"

This is his exact words. "To most people, you are probably funny. But to me, I don't find your sense of humor, humorous."

"Well okay then... Thanks for being honest."

Hahaha no joke! I wanted to run in to a wall. My goal from then on was to make him laugh. Seriously, I tried EVERYTHING! We were tracting forever one day and I finally said, "Elder, I think we would have more success if we tried something new. Because music brings the Spirit, when they open the door, we are going to sing them a carol. Like a Christmas carol but a Hymn instead." Haha I thought that was hilarious so I kept acting like I was going to do it but he made promises that he wouldn't do it (to be honest, I don't think I could do it anyway... haha) so I asked him what his favorite hymn was. He told me and I didn't know the words to it. (It was some song that is song once every five years, haha seriously I can't even remember it) So I asked him to sing it, he said no, I asked him to just tell me the words to it, he said no, then I asked him to just hum the tune of the song, he said no. I then started singing the title to "Praise to the Man", "Called to Serve", "I'll Go where you want me to go Dear Lord", etc. etc... He literally swung his fist at me and stopped right in front of my face! I thought I was going to be seeing stars! He scared me to death (he has kind of a temper and is flustered really easily) He told me to stop or he was going to do it for real next time. Because I promised myself not to get mad I didn't say anything and just changed the subject... Pretty much talking to myself or memorizing a scripture. At the end of the apartment complex I looked at him and was so tired of everything happening. I faced him and pointed my finger at him and said, "Elder, YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME BY THE END OF OUR COMPANIONSHIP!" I didn't yell it but I said it sternly. Haha now that I think back on it it's kind of funny but at the time I wasn't joking. He just said something else like it wasn't possible.... Ohhhhh baby... just wait I thought.

A lot of other things happened throughout the week. Investigators would gang up on him (multiple people have told him to "lighten up", be "more open", to just "listen to them", or one even said, "you need to be more flexible." Haha I started laughing (inside of course) because he sounded just like the girl in the "Incredibles" movie.) and I was sometimes tempted to join their side and just point out all of his qualities that drive me insane. He takes 45 minutes (not kidding, I timed it) in the shower, he sometimes takes 75 seconds to answer me (again, I timed it one time), and on and on and on. I kept trying to think, how does someone DEAL WITH THIS GUY! There's no wonder after transfers an elder came up to me and said "good luck. do your best" - I actually don't think I told you that story.

Anyway, more stories. We were riding our bikes down a hill this week (OOHHHHH I NEVER TOLD YOU! Haha we got bikes. Whooo! I wish I could write an entire email abt how nerdy yet awesome I feel on a bike and helmet) and I'm not going to lie, it's a pretty wicked hill. We were going really fast down it and at the end I was just coasting for a good 30 seconds when a car honked at me as he drove by. I was like "Man! Why do people hate missionaries?" Haha but I kept riding... I then turned around because he is SO SLOW on a bike. And not in shape so we always have to get off and walk (one time I had to push his bike along with mine he was so tired). I turned around and he wasn't there... Uh oh. I'll just wait here. I pulled off to the side of the road and waited for 30 seconds. He didn't come. I then turned around and started riding back. A guy in a truck picked him up because he fell and was LAYING down in the middle of the road. Anyway, Man! I'm out of time (sorry we had to do this questionnaire for our mission president which took up all our time...)

Long story short, I had more compassion on him than I ever have had in my entire life. It was the coolest feeling. Later that night we were laying in bed and I told him I loved him... Haha sounds weird but I don't want him to forget it, and HE SAID IT BACK TO ME!!

Let me repeat that. HE SAID IT BACK TO ME!!

I about died. I immediately said a prayer of gratitude. It's so lame to write home a letter about how another guy told me he loved me but I guess you just don't quite understand. I've literally tried EVERYTHING to have success with this guy. I have wanted to do everything to him imaginable (and to be honest, I could because I don't think he's ever touched a weight in his life) but I just had patience with the Lord. I'm learning more than I ever thought I would from him through the Lord.

Helaman 3:35. "...Sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts to God." I'm not claiming I'm holy by any means, but I did feel like a million bucks that night because I yielded to that prompting to just stay the course and trust in Him.

I love you all. I'm happy. And I feel like I'm becoming exactly the type of person my Heavenly Father wants me to be. Which of course, is only possible through the grace and mercy of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm humbled to have His name on my tag everyday. 

Thanks for the letters. They are medicine. Seriously.

Elder Welch 

Visa "Waiter"?? Nahhhh.. Visa WORKER

Whooooo baby! I'm not sure if I've been so tired in my entire life. No joke. As soon as I lay down at I almost instantly fall asleep, then my alarm goes off what seems like 10 minutes later. Haha agh! I'm like pllleeaaaasssssseeeeeee let me sleep a little longer. My Mission President said an interesting thing the first day we showed up here. (He's probably President Nilsen's age. His youngest kid is in 5th or 6th grade. He's straight up Awesome (yes, capital 'A')). I didn't know how hard it would be to get up in the mornings on your mission because it was my first day but he made a comment that I love now. I think of it all the time, especially when the alarm goes off and I want to chuck it out the window... "It shouldn't be hard to get excited every morning. If you're not excited, you haven't thought about what you are doing. And if you can't get excited by thinking about it, pray to really understand what you are doing." I love that. Here's a couple reasons why I love it. 

Well, I'm sure you are wondering about my companion/trainer so skip this paragraph to figure out what I was talking about above. (Oh! So one of the senior couples should have sent you, mom and dad, a picture of me (yeee!) but I don't know if they told you about the facebook group. Check it out. I hear it's pretty sweet but I'm not too sure because I haven't seen it. There should be some pictures of our group that came in this week. 50 MISSIONARIES in to the Georgia Atlanta mission last Tuesday. [Here is the facebook link: Georgia Atlanta LDS Mission] The Lord is seriously hastening His work.) Anyway, my companion's name is Elder Peery. He's awesome and I'm learning a lot from him. He's pretty much the opposite of me in every way (seriously) except for us both being missionaries and willing to work. Haha no joke. But I'm learning a lot about patience, love, and charity. President Harding also said how you treat your companions on your mission is transparent of how you will treat your future wife. (He talks a lot about marriage and the blessings of it.) Haha so I've changed a lot and have become a lot more compassionate. I told him that my goal was to make him laugh at least once this transfer. He never laughs, especially at me. I know... Even me. Haha BBUUUTTT!! I just made him laugh about two hours ago so pshhh, piece of cake. It was actually pretty funny because he was trying to justify what he was reeealllyyy laughing at and I told him that if he told me the reason, he would be hurting my feelings- so he stopped. Haha but in all honesty, I love him. I'm really trying to make him love me though. I'll tell him a couple times a day that I love him and he'll just tell me, "thanks" or "okay." I was thinking if he was actually my "future wife", I wouldn't be able to stand that. You know how much courage that takes to tell another man you love him? Haha a couple days ago I gave him a hug and he kept his hands by his side the entire time. I was determined he was just going to "love me" so I kept my arms around him. No words spoken for like 15 SECONDS. I finally told him that I wasn't letting go until he showed me some love back... so he put one arm around me and slapped me on the back. Haha I just think it's funny though. I couldn't be happier with who he is because although I feel like I mainly talk to all the people, he's willing to work. We don't waste anytime. We run to houses when we're short on time and we almost have to run home every night in order to get home in time before 9:00. I talk about that more later... It kinda stinks though because I'm sweating every night while we are planning and my feet feel like they're going to fall off (we're on foot. one of the bikes is broken) I actually had a dream that my feet jumped off my body and ran away one night because my feet hurt so bad. Haha 

So let me tell you why every one reading this needs to go on a mission. 

Heidi and her fam:

My trainer really doesn't talk much unless it's just me around. He got pretty discouraged because we were tracting all day long and the only person that invited us in was a single mom... so we couldn't go in obviously. Anyway, we sat down on the side of the road and he told me that he doesn't feel ready to be a trainer. It was really sad hearing him not feel qualified. I told him how much he has taught me and how good of a teacher he is (he knows the doctrine really well). Anyway, we sat on the side of a curb on the road in a neighborhood. We both were exhausted and I asked him if he just wanted to go home and call it a night or if he wanted to finish out the night. (it was close to 8 pm). After a long pause and discussion I told him that we weren't going home and that we signed up for this to find those people prepared by the Lord to be able to enjoy the greatest blessings this world has to offer. We said a prayer of faith that we could find them that night. We both were exhausted. He saw a scary guy outside blowing the grass off his driveway (Heidi's brother) and decided to talk to him. Agh it was scary. I felt like he was going to eat me! Anyway, long story short (haha sorry I want to tell you more stories), he let us in with Heidi and her mom and her daughter. It's not a traditional family who lives inside the home but we taught them the Restoration and committed them to read the Book of Mormon. It felt awesome bc that was my first mission and it came after a big time struggle from the entire day. Btw, Georgia is like Ohio on steroids with humidity. Wearing a dress shirt is killer. I sweat so much.

We ran to their house the night to just tell them that we were thinking of them and that we loved them. Heidi's mom was so touched she came out of the house and gave me a hug. I was like, "AGGHGHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Haha it's funny because mom was the last female I hugged. It was only a couple months ago but it feels like a really long time ago. Anyway, I gave her a quick hug because 1. she was a grandma and 2. Dustin told me that it's better to just give them a hug if theyre older and make it quick then to make it super awkward. Haha she also hugged Elder Peery. 

Allen:

He invited us in RIGHT AFTER Heidi's. Aghh it was awesome. We were able to teach him as well and leave with him a Book of Mormon. He just recently got out of jail but it wasn't for anything serious. Elder Holland gives a crazy sick to the nasty awesome talk in the latest Ensign and relates Justice and Mercy of Jesus Christ to the penitentiary. Because our first lesson was on Prophets and apostles, we gave him that to read. Go and read it. It's awesome. [The Justice and Mercy of God] Also, Brad Wilcox's talk on Grace is in there. Karli actually showed me that a couple months ago and he makes so much sense of it. I've read parts of it over a few times. Read it and weep. [His Grace Is Sufficient]

Cristina:

She's living with her boyfriend/husband. We're really not sure yet because it's been so long since they've been together but we had another similar experience as above. Discouragement from the entire day, saying a prayer to find those prepared, and then going to work. We tracted in to her apartment and she let us in. After talking with her for a little bit she told us this. Her boyfriend said some pretty cruel things to her the night before, "things that never should be said", and she was so offended that she slept in their family room. She told us that at 4:00 am she was bawling as she knelt down on her knees and offered a prayer. She was looking for purpose in her life. She told us that she woke up that morning just lost, not knowing what she's supposed to do with her life. She had no "purpose". She prayed to God to help her with her purpose. With what she should do. She then said, "I decided I should read the Word of God. I found the bible on my phone and downloaded it. Right after I began reading, you knocked on our door and told us that you are "Representatives of Jesus Christ." That's not a normal thing to say. I know he heard my prayer." 

I'm out of time! Man! I didn't get to even expound on these thoughts. Anyway, the church is true. I love the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible.  I've never been so tired in my entire life but I also have never been so happy. 

We were running home from Allen's that one night and I looked down at my tag and realized what I really was doing. Who I am now. I miss you all so much, but know that I love it here because I feel the Spirit almost every waking minute of the day. 

I love you all.

Elder Welch 

Btw, unless there is a holiday, my PDAY is on Mondays.

Here is Tyler's mission address if you want to mail him letters or packages:

Elder Tyler Welch

Georgia Atlanta Mission

112 Governors Square Ste. A

Fayetteville, GA 30215-4805

Otherwise, you can email him at tyler.welch@myldsmail.net

The chapel was overflowing as 50 new missionaries were added to the mission.  They were trained, assigned companions, fed, and sent off to help "the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth."  D&C 65:2

Tyler with his new companion

 Elder Welch and his companion with their mission President and his wife, President John & Deborah Harding