1 Year Report!

Dearest Family & Friends,

It is great to have a chance to write you today! It is a beautiful day here in Cleveland; 92 degrees with a hundred percent chance of sweat. Time is an allusive thing out here in the field; every day is faster. It seems like it is always daytime in my life because my sleep is so fast and we are awake all day. I can hardly believe that it will be a year on Friday that I have been out here in the field. The mission has provided so much perspective; it will always be a part of me. I have seen so many ups and downs in this first twelve months. I have put sweat and tears into helping others come unto Christ, especially myself. I wonder from time to time when I am released what will others see I have become? I feel different than before but the change is so gradual that I can hardly notice. These truly are days never to be forgotten. It is a tender mercy of the Lord that one year after we were MTC companions, Elder Metcalf are together again as Assistants, this Elder is my best friend in the field. Yesterday we slowed down for a second and both shared that we felt Heavenly Father had brought us together to not only do a work in the Ohio; but even after; I hope we are friends our whole lives.

This week was alot of fun. It was hard to say goodbye to Elder Hicks; he went to my old area of Shaker Heights as a Zone Leader in Kirtland. The minute he left I started to feel the weight of being the new trainer of Elder Metcalf. The Lord has supported me so much this week and has brought so much to my remembrance so that I could perform my duties. This week was transfer week so we got to usher in the new missionaries and say good-bye to the departures. One of the departures was one of my best friends in the field; Elder Bills. During the final testimony that night I thanked him and talked about how he had expounded Romans Chapter 8 to me on one of the hardest days of my mission and how it changed my whole outlook. We all slept at the Mission home and Elder Bills and I had a little devotional/goodbye with each other before bed. We read Romans 8 again, sang hymns and said our prayers together. I am going to miss him; he changed my mission.

David and Danielle Torres are continuing to do amazing. They are the most humble/strong people I have taught on my mission. They are getting baptized this Saturday! Yesterday we taught them a little bit about going to the temple to be sealed after a year and they said that when Elder Metcalf and I are released we could attend their sealing in the Ohio, Columbus Temple next summer, that will be such an honor. This week we also had a powerful lesson about tithing and we were able to resolve some of their concerns. They said that as they rode home that night they both decided that even though they live from pay check to pay check that they were going to commit to doing this and having faith; as soon as they had done so they said that a very uplifting energy came over them both and they felt great the rest of the night. I can't say enough about how much I love these two. They are others I hope I am friends with my whole life.

So a cool thing that happened on Sunday; We were in third hour of church for Elders quorum. The Elders quorum President stood up and informed us that the person in charge of teaching was not here, thus we had no teacher. I immediately volunteered Elder Metcalf and I to teach the lesson. As we did he told us that the lesson topic was "Teaching of our times", thus we were to analyze a conference talk from last General Conference. "Oh, I know one we could do. We've been studying it. It's called "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration for Your Personal Life" by Richard G. Scott" I said. So we began to break down this talk and share our insights about it and then with about 5 minutes left the guy who was supposed to be teaching walked in and interrupted by telling us "Thank you for teaching the lesson, I was running behind. Here is the talk I was giving the lesson on if you'd like it?". Turns out that the talk that he was going to teach on was the exact one that we decided at the spur of the moment to talk about. There must've been 35 talks given at conference and we chose the exact one; TALK ABOUT REVELATION! Anyway, I thought it was cool and it turned out to be a good lesson with a real life demonstration.

Well I am going to get going and see if I can't sneak in a nap today. Elder Metcalf and I were having computer difficulties last night and we didn't get home until 3:30 AM, needless to say 6:30 came to soon, it is a blessing I don't feel all that tired. I must say that in my first year there is one thing I have learned that is paramount to all else; it is that Heavenly Father cares. I know that now more than I ever have. He knows each one of us so personally and loves us so deeply we could hardly accept it. We are teaching a few Leadership Training Meetings this week and I have been assigned 'the Doctrine of the Father's love'. I can't wait to share my feelings about His love with the leaders of this mission. I know that He loves us. I know that His plan is evidence of His care. His love for creation and progress is in all things. Above all I know the commandments are given with a promise and that anyone who wants to find true happiness must learn to follow Him and turn from the prideful and vain ambitions of their hearts. There is no greater evidence of the love of God than the sacrifice of His Son. No truth resonates more deeply within my breast than that Heavenly Father lives and that Jesus is the Christ. I am His disciple and am not ashamed of the Truth. I love proclaiming this work and as long as I have breath in my lounges I will labor for the Lord. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love, Elder Prince