Dearest Family and Friends,

So good to be with you today. I have been sick for the majority of the week so I am happy just to be up and outside of the apartment. Apparently I got a sinus infection and it has kept me under. Elder Dransfield is the man, he refused to let me do anything. Bought me water, airborne and pretty much kept me asleep with melatonin for 48 hours straight. It felt like a 'sick day' home from school back in the when my Mom would cater to me hands and feet, the difference being I wasn't faking it this time!

The week did have some highlights however! We had Leadership Training Meeting (LTM) in Cleveland with all the District and Zone Leaders in the mission. My MTC companion, Elder Metcalf and I are the youngest Zone Leaders in the mission and it was great to see him. I love watching him grow and progress because he is so pure in heart and I know that any calling he receives he magnifies and works hard in. My transfer of the mission started a wave of new missionaries. The majority of the mission is young, 53% have been out less then 9 months! We also have a new Mission President coming in 3 months so it will be pivotal that the Leaders of the mission carry on tradition and create culture of purpose within the Ohio, Cleveland. So to see some of the Elders I came out with in leadership and doing so well at conducting the work is a treat. I love watching the growth and change in them every time we meet up. Elder Dransfield and I did a half hour workshop at LTM. Our topic was 'helping others gain a testimony", we talked about focusing on the scriptures searching for deeper meaning and understanding in what we read. We then passed out the lyrics of "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and talked about the deeper meaning behind the song. The author of the song was Robert Robinson who wrote it when he was 22 years old! He was formerly a drunk and decided to turn his life over to Christ. Reading the meanings and the personality behind the art really made it hit my heart. Prior to my coming on a mission Brother Scott gave me a CD with only this song on it. After listening to it I had one of the most profound spiritual experiences of my life that was very influential in my coming to serve. To be able to relate this same song to the Leaders in the mission was so powerful. We played the Mormon Tabernacle's rendition to the meeting and asked everyone to now listen to the words the had expounded to them. It was so touching as I took a moment to stop my own meditation and looked upon the whole meeting with their eyes closed. The spirit was so strong!

I wish to leave you with my testimony that I know God lives! I know that He is the Fount of Every Blessing! I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Read it thoughtfully and prayerfully and I promise that you will be filled with a greater thirst. A thirst for light. A thirst for knowledge. A thirst for the love of God. I know that we may all drink from the Living Waters freely! I love you and leave these things with you in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.