The Book of Mormon brings power in teaching and in spirituality overall.

Hey everyone - 

I'm not going to be able to write much this week, but I'll try to cover most of it.  To start off we had an appointment with K... this week on Tuesday, but we went over and she ended up not being home, so we texted her later that day and had to reschedule for Saturday. We went over and she ended up not being present again, but Mackenzie called her and said she would be there in about and hour, so we ended up waiting until she arrived.  The lesson overall went really well, but as always her two year old son Liam took it over a lot of the time, by pulling on his mom's scriptures and identify each part of my face by poking it  haha.  She said she was going to try to make it to church which is good but it has been a while.  I felt impressed to fast Sunday morning and pray that she would make it to church.  We were worried as always at church, because she has missed about 5 weeks in a row - but she made it!  She really enjoyed church and said she will definitely be there next week, so her baptism is scheduled for the 31st.  The power of fasting is real, and I am so thankful that I decided to do that.  It's funny that Jo also had great blessings come from fasting this week.  I can't wait to here from you guys and I'll talk to you soon!

Love,
Elder Austin  8/25/2014

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A letter received from Elder Austin on Tuesday:    8/20/2014:

Dear Family,

How is it going everyone??  Any exciting things happening lately or coming up soon?  So for us, we have been setting up lessons with families to help them invite friends to church for talks/baptisms or other things so our afternoons are starting to get filled here.  I really love all the members here and enjoy visiting with all of them.  Over half the members in the ward moved here in the past year, so it is a very young ward.  Our work with K... is still going well, but she can't get baptized until she starts coming to church.  We are going to do our best to help her feel the Spirit as we teach and help her understand to recognize it as well.  Her determination amazes me and continues to as well.  We are going to do a lot more finding next week to try and get some potentials ourselves, so we will see how it goes.  So how is Seminary Jake??  How is driving coming along?!  When I get home we are definitely going to jet ski and parasail.  So what is everyone up to on a daily basis?  Still 'shimming' Jake??  Sunny still working out? So I still absolutely hate working out in the morning, so I end up doing it after we get home.  No hurricanes coming in this year?  I know my car is getting fixed soon.  Have fun with it before Jo steals it from you Jake haha.  It's weird to think that Jo will be home early next year.  It's still pretty far, but not really.  When I first got here, I started the Book of Mormon at Helaman and finished it, and about last week I finished it again all the way through, so I will definitely start reading it again.  The Book of Mormon brings power in teaching and in spirituality overall.  If you want to have a good day, start it off with some meaningful Book of Mormon study! The blessings that come from just reading a bit a day are incredible, and it will allow you to be guided by the Spirit for the rest of your day.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be here in Colorado and even though I miss you guys a lot, I know where I am supposed to be and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I miss you all so much and hope to hear from you either through email or letters.  Keep doing what you're doing and I'll see you soon!!

Elder Austin, III

(He's the third Elder Austin out as a missionary!)