Jeff and Tina Doing Great and getting ready for Baptism

Hey Family!

It sounds like everyone had a great week! I was honesty a bit distracted this week, but as the days went on, it got better. 

Jeff and Tina are doing great. Jeff has a smoking problem to overcome but I have faith that he can do it, and so does he. We gave him a blessing to help him quit, and he has until Saturday to do so. The Zone Leaders are going to be interviewing them for baptism then, and then the following Saturday will be the baptism. 

We actually had some some other people at Church that we were not expecting. Christine and her kids came! I couldn't believe it. We didn't really get to talk to her after sacrament meeting or anything so that was a bit strange. Maybe she's embarrassed or something but oh well. At least she came to Church. I was really happy about that. 

The Lake boys also passed the sacrament and they did great! It was awesome to see. Oh one little funny detail with Jeff and Tina. They have 2 boys, one that is 5 and the other is 4. Anyway the 4 year old somehow always gets loose during sacrament meeting and runs up to the stand and is running around up there while someone is giving a talk. Oh my goodness. So anyways Elder Stubbs and I baited him with candy and he came over and we got him to go back to sit with his parents, only to get loose again like 10 minutes later haha. This happened like 3 or 4 times. Oh man. He'll learn... Hopefully haha. 

Oh and that family we chose for fellowshipping came on time! It was great. That was the first time I've seen them 2 weeks in a row at Church since I've been here. They also sat with Jeff and Tina so that was good. 

We haven't seen Gina Green the past 2 weeks. I honestly am not too upset about that or anything. She won't do anything we ask her to. We can't help her if she can't even help herself. We'll see if that changes anytime soon. We'll probably try to set something up with her this upcoming week, and lay down the law. 

I am so chapped I'm missing my second season of college football. Dangit! Oh well just one more. That's pretty neat they're playing UConn. I got to play basketball again today, as we're in Council Bluffs. I did slightly better than I have been so I'm happy about that. Still have a long ways to go but oh well. I also made some good plays in volleyball, what a shocker. 

Well I'm going to get going. I love all of you guys! Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Ballif

Still in Logan, Iowa - Did not get transferred

ed up about it, but it didn't happen. I am still in Logan, with Elder Stubbs. I am completely fine now and regained composure. Elder Stubbs also being sick on Saturday and Sundayslowed things down a bit. But Elder Stubbs and I are doing great, we're getting along really well, and I am excited to get back to work. 

We actually had 2 miracles this week, and they were both on the same day. And what was even cooler, is that I specifically asked for some miracles the night before. So in the morning around 9 we get a text from Elder Crozier asking if we're teaching anybody with the last name Dozier, and I replied that I'm pretty sure there is someone in the area book with that last name. So I went and checked their first names and it turned out to be the same people attending the Fontenelle Ward with the wife's dad because he is a member. They had moved from the address in the area book, and Elder Crozier got their new address which is still in the Logan Ward, and they said we can start coming over. So I am pretty excited about that. 

And then the other miracle was us finding some lost sheep. So there was this that are members, that ended up moving somewhere else in town and the Church didn't know where to. So anyways, Spencer one of the recent converts that was baptized in May (the son) has a best friend, that we've seen quite often. He came to church with Pam, Eric and Spencer and the bishop recognized him. Turns out he is the son of that family that moved away, and he was never baptized because he was too young and doesn't have a recollection of going to Church. So now we know where this family lives and hopefully will start teaching the son soon, and getting the family back to Church. 

That's good to hear that Austin is doing better. And that's good he's hanging around Todd Smoot again. He's definitely a good kid. 

How's Heather doing? Last I heard she was sick, but I can't imagine that would still be the case. Oh and I forgot to say happy birthday to Jenn so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I have been pretty crappy at remembering that stuff during emails. 

I've had a good day today. We went down to Council Bluffs again and played volleyball and basketball again. I still am struggling a bit with basketball, but again, oh well, what can you do? 

We saw Gina Green again yesterday. It was probably the best discussion we've had with her. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and avoided the polygamy issue fairly well. Basically we said if the Book of Mormon is true, there is no issue. Hopefully she will actually start coming to church. That would be cool. She knows she needs to. She just doesn't so it can be frustrating. 

The Lake family is doing well. Jessup, the second oldest son is being ordained to the priesthood next week so that should be awesome. They're an awesome family. Brother Lake has so many funny stories from his mission. He also wasn't the greatest missionary, what it seems like from the stories, but he still is awesome. He served in Salt Lake City. And I guess he at one time was a really good basketball player. 39 inch vertical, and had a money shot. He is 6'2 and got 10th in the state of California slam dunk contest. Which is saying something for it being all of the states best high school dunkers. 

Sister Lake also holds the Nebraska state record in college for most 3 pointers made in a game and most in a season. Unfortunately for her the WNBA didn't exist when she was in college or she very well could have made it. 

I hope everyone has a great week. I love every single one of you, even though I may not show it all of the time!

Love,

Elder Ballif 

Baptisms

Hey Family!

I hope everyone is doing well. I am doing pretty great. This past week was a very busy one, but it was capped off by an awesome baptism. It was a great service. It was one of the best days of my mission thus far.

This past week was super busy. But we didn't get anything done throughout it. We spent most of our week in other areas. We saw a couple of people on Tuesday, and then Wednesday, we headed up to Atlantic for exchanges, and we ended up demolishing a house, so that was pretty fun. I got a lot of videos of it, and some pictures but unfortunately we're in Council Bluffs and the computers here suck and you can't connect a camera. Luckily Sister Lake sent us some pictures of the baptism so I can forward those. 

On Thursday we had District Meeting in Harlan and then we had to go to Denison so I could interview one of their investigators for baptism. He passed so that was good. He was baptized yesterday so that was pretty neat. And then we drove back to Harlan and then we drove to Council Bluffs, and spent the night there because I had a leadership meeting in Omaha the next day. And that lasted all day, and then Saturday we had the baptism.

All in all I really enjoyed the past week. This transfer has gone by pretty darn fast. This Friday is transfer day. I don't know if I'm leaving yet. I'll find out on Thursday, but I'm not holding my breath. There's a chance I could stay and there's a chance I could leave, so it'll be interesting to see what happens.

That's good Austin moved back from St. George. It'll be good to see him when I get home.

I hope everyone has a fantastic day. We are going to go and do some shopping in Council Bluffs pretty soon. We played volleyball and basketball earlier so that was fun. I absolutely sucked at both, but that's alright. My shot is so off right now.

Oh well there's nothing I can really do about it on a mission. That's pretty sweet about BYU. Record all of the games so I can watch them when I get back. Or I'm sure there will be other methods to do that, but just figure something out.

Have a great week everyone! I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Ballif