Brittany's Birthday!

YEEEAAAAAAAAA!!! Haha Happy Birthday Brittany! I love you. You rock. I wish I could write you a letter but I'm not sure about your new Portland address. That's crazy you're moving! It's a little sad knowing that I wouldn't be able to take over Dustin's spot and come over and play board games with you and Adam in college, but I'm excited for you guys. And another BOY! Ohhh yeah... He's gonna be a bbadddddd boy. Haha but I hope your birthday went great this week. What made it even better was I got a package from you, on your birthday... I like those type of sibling birthdays. When I get presents on my sister's birthday. Straight up, ballin! Thank you for my  temple clothes and the bag of PB M&Ms. Anyway, I thought a lot about you this week and just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you. I love you.

Soooo, you wouldn't believe it but Elder Dallin H. Oaks came this week. I know, seriously. Blessings are showering on me here in Georgia. It was awesome. He was only able to speak to our mission (as well as the Georgia Atlanta North Mission) for 30 minutes, but I learned so much from him. Along with his wife, he brought with him President and Sister Suarez (President of the 70 - Brazilian by the way...) and four other general authorities. Haha I about started crying. It was the greatest two hour meeting of my life. I wish I could give you a long list of notes I took from him but I didn't take many. I really tried to focus on what the Spirit was telling me as he spoke, so my notes aren't anything that would interest you. Just ordinary things that were extraordinary to me at this time in my life. Two things above all stuck out to me though:

-Importance of the Sacrament (I'll have to write a letter home later in my mission on this. I won't ever miss another Sacrament meeting again in my life). and,

-How he treated his wife. HOLY COW! Talk about a true gentleman. Man. He didn't say anything about her in his 30 minute talk either. I think it was just the way he just acted around her. I don't know how else to explain it. Haha it's probably kind of weird coming from me but this is what made the strongest impression. I've been thinking about men vs boys lately during studies (sounds weird, I know) but that's definitely a crowning characteristic. I was grateful to be able to see them interact with each other.

So one of my companions, Elder Evans, got really sick this week. Elder Ross and I would take him to a member's house where he would sleep all day so we could still go and see people, but he wasn't really getting any better. Guess who finally had the thought to whip out the essential oils? Haha you better believe it Ashley. I'm a believer now... (In reality, it was probably just the Priesthood blessing... but the oils definitely worked wonders.) But I've spent the past two days thinking about oils extracted from plants and other surrounding nature. God has a solution to everything, and it's in the earth. That's all I feel I should say on that. Haha when I was applying some of the things on him I was shaking my head thinking how proud Ashley would be of me...

All right, this week was awesome again. I came to a conclusion that my lifelong dream of going and returning on a mission with no regrets wasn't possible. I've written multiple times in my journal feelings that I've had where I should've done something better, or not said that, or called that person at that time... So many different little "regrets" that caused me to just be weighed down with inadequacy - feeling I wasn't measured up for a task as large as representing Jesus Christ. It haunted me. Then it hit me. Christ suffered for every depression, weakness, struggle, heartache, inadequacy, etc. I always knew that, but never really "personalized" it to me and my life. It was powerful. I need the atonement, big time. Everyday. This leads to some of my feelings now toward the Sacrament and how much I look forward to Sundays now. I'm imperfect. I'm happy to admit it though. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ and His infinite and atoning sacrifice. It's coming to life to me.

Sorry this letter wasn't very spiritual but I want to close with my appreciation for your prayers. I know our Heavenly Father hears them. This week we were driving to another appointment after we just finished teaching a cool guy named Orlando. I was in the back seat of the car writing some things down from the lesson to keep in mind for our next visit while Elder Ross started yelling, "Wheel, wheel, wheel! Elder Evans, WHEEL" I peeked my head around the passenger seat I was seated behind (we were kind of on a highway, not really sure what it was) and saw a huge wheel bouncing at us. This car/van that was about 100 yards in front of us was driving and all of the sudden, the lug nuts popped off the side of the tire, causing the car to pivot to the ground. The wheel popped off that car and was rolling/bouncing at us 65+ mph, headed right for the middle of our windshield. Elder Evans hit the breaks and turned the wheel slightly to the left, but not too much because there was oncoming traffic on the other side of the lanes. The wheel, on it's last two bounces prior to hitting us, took two awkward, out of no where bounces to the left, causing the wheel to miss us by about six inches. It then continued to roll normal, as it was before the awkward bounces, off the side of the road into a fence. Your prayers saved our lives. It was a miracle. I feel His presence around me everyday as I strive to be exactly obedient. I know He protects me.

I love you all. Your prayers and letters mean everything to me.  This is His restored Gospel. I know it, I live it everyday, and I love it - I'm so happy

Elder Welch