Monday, June 16th

Hey y'all!

Sorry I have been really bad at getting a full email out to everyone these past 2 weeks, but hopefully your weeks haven't been as crazy as mine have been. Luckily this week was a good crazy! Elder Johnston, my new companion, is such a great missionary, and we get along really well! We spent probably 4 hours together cleaning our apartment! Its amazing having a companion that is willing to help me clean, but what makes it better is when he is just as enthusiastic about it as you are! We have a very great apartment now, and we are set on continuing to make it nicer.

We have been working hard outside of P-day too. Now that I am in my area full time, its been good but crazy trying to get all of our appointments back to normal schedule. Elder Johnston and I have really been trying to be as Exactly obedient as we can be and we can tell the sisters are too and we have seen a lot of great blessing from that! We have been going through records and the ward list and have found a lot of part member families that we could very well be teaching. Some kids as well as adults. We are really looking to make those happen, especially as our fastest progressing investigator just got baptized! Jeff!

Before his baptism, we went to the Joesph Smith Memorial with him and Brother LaRiviere on Friday! It may have been raining, but we had a really great time anyway! Elder and Sister Osborn were there at the JSM, and it was so great to meet and catch up with them. I missed getting a picture with Elder Osborn. But I will attach the one with Sister Osborn at the JSM!

The baptism was the next day. Jeff was wearing white shirt, tie, blazer and everything! He looked even better in white! I will attach that picture too!
He asked me to baptize him and give the talk on baptism. I was honored to do so. He also had his sister (Melanie- who was just baptized 5 months ago) to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. She did such a great job! She was so proud of Jeff and the decision he made and it really showed! Jeff's mom really felt the spirit during the service and afterwards she talked with me and the new sister (Sister Aeschbacher) and I went to shake her hand and she took my hand and with watering eyes kissed my hand, and thanked me and my companion for helping him so much. She expressed how much of a difference it has made on him! It was so sweet, and we told her more about the book of Mormon and gave her one! She said she would start reading it, and she was there the next day for sacrament mt and gospel principles too! We will hopefully teaching her soon! She is definitely ready! Her other son who is 14 wants to come to church too, so hopefully him too! It was so sweet to see him confirmed too! Jeff asked Brother LaRiviere to do that.

I am so thankful for this gospel, and all the wonderful blessings it brings into our lives! I know it can change us if we let it! It was so great to see the gospel change Jeff and help him become better. He still has a long path ahead, but he is really happy to finally be an official part of it all now!

Thanks for all the prayers for him! I know they helped! I am so glad to have had this so close to my year mark! I will officially have been out 1 year on Thursday June 19th! How crazy is that! haha It goes sooo fast!

Well this marks the end of my time for emails today. I sure love yall!

-Elder Swalberg