Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas week! Cant wait to skype y'all on Thursday. I'm thinking around 1-2 is when I'll get on. 

The Mission-wide Christmas Party was great! Its always wonderful to see old comps and good friends that you don't see anywhere else. I did receive your package too. Those letters meant so much to me, thank you. I cant believe Trevor wrote a five page letter and a novel! Hes such a stud. Andrew said hes struggling with friends and wants me to be there to hang with him. Cant wait for that day.

My new comp is great, it's super easy to talk to him and we have a lot of the same interests and hobbies so I can see myself hangin' with him after the mission.

I think it's hilarious that some missionaries have a hard time becoming "Normal" again. Trust me, I will have no problem with that haha. I'm looking forward to catching up and making up for lost time with the family. My entire perspective has changed and my realization is that family is the single most important thing in this life, other than the gospel of course. There needs to be time set aside for strengthening the family.

We have three appointments for Christmas day this year. I'm new and hardly know the members at all which is hard... I wish I was still in Lake Butler in that aspect. It's great here too though. 

Merry Christmas!

Elder Greenlaw

The reason why Waycross has its name is because its the main intersection for CSX railways is in the state. There are railroad crossings everywhere around here and constantly a train going by. I just had to get a pic when we parked right on the rails at a red light. :)

My First Week in Georgia

Transfers went great! My companion Elder Robert Anderson is a stud! He's from Riverton, another close one! He's been out for just over a year now, he's such a humble, obedient, and faithful guy, I'm real happy I'm with him.

As for the work, we have 3-4 investigators were working with pretty regularly. James Williams Jr is the most solid. Hes a black brotha born and raised in Georgia. He has a baptismal date for the 27th of this month. Were hoping it will go through but hes living with his girlfriend.... We are teaching the law of chastity to him and hopefully we can get her involved in the discussions. As of right now she doesn't seem interested in the gospel.  There's another lady named Bonida who is a chef, but she has had really bad health issues lately, the reason why she isn't able to come to church and progress. She does say she wants to get baptized though along with her daughter and granddaughter that live with her!

People say the culture is different here in Georgia than in Florida, but i haven't really noticed it. I just came from a very small, country town, so I'm lovin it. There are more black people here which is great, too bad there's only 2 that are active in our ward right now... Everywhere i go it seems to be that way!...

I was hoping that I wouldn't ever have to bike again on my mission, but I got here and we have a car share, week on week off schedule. Sooooo this week we've been peddling A Lot! I'ts getting me in good share for home. I'm just trying to look at the positives haha. My first Sunday here i was asked to fill in for a young man and speak in Sacrament Meeting. They told me 3-5 minutes, but the youth ahead of me went for about 30 seconds and 3 minutes and left Bishop and I 40 minutes.... So I had to follow the spirit and drag it out a lot longer haha. It went good though. 

I seriously have a problem. This morning, out of nowhere, i got hit with a soar throat and congestion again! I went to go to the Doctor today but found that the lobby was filled and they said an hour or more wait, so we immediately left and now I'm putting up with it. Attempting to shop and play basketball haha. 

That's about it for this week! Christmas is coming up and I cant believe it! I love the Christmas spirit, and the easiness to talk about Christ with others. 

Elder Greenlaw

Elder Anderson and Elder Greenlaw

The original church in Waycross, zoom in on the plaque! They have now changed it as you can see. 

Charlie and Barbara Wiggins!

The famous Randy Thomas!

David and Bobby Williams! (Investigators)

The wonderful Cranford family in Lake Butler!

Happy Thanksgiving Ya'll

Hey yall,

This last week has been great! New people are coming out of the woodwork! The youth in this ward are so enthusiastic and eager to share the gospel. We've met a bunch of their friends, we have an epic volleyball night where we had a lot of new faces and we're going to start teaching them here pretty soon. 

We had a great Book of Mormon study class also with an investigator that came and loved it! Sister Gail teaches from the institute manual so we're going into real detail of the events, using maps, power points, modern day prophet insights and scripture! It blew him away as to how great the class was. He would get baptized if his wife was more accepting... She would divorce him if he joined the church.... All in due time.

We've slowed down on the amount of service the past month or so and this last week we've been praying for more opportunities. In return, immediately projects in the community, for non-members, active and less active members have been popping up left and right! There sure is a special spirit about serving your fellow men, a spirit I can't get enough of I love it!! 

The members here are fantastic! We've had two Early Thanksgiving meals already and 4 appointments scheduled for Thursday. We are taking charge of setting up the Turkey Bowl too. 8 am we'll be out on the high school football field ready to tear it up! Haha

That's about it for this week. Elder Andersen and I are having a blast together. Happy Thanksgiving to ya'll and I'll talk to ya next week.

Elder Greenlaw

Florida and a New Pair of Boots

Hey yall,

It's been a great week and daggum has it flown by. 

Some of the highlights are that my new companion is named Elder Conner Andersen from Draper Utah!! He graduated from Alta a year after me. He then went to SUU for a year and then came out on his mission. He was a track star and has done 3 triathlons. Holy smokes! He's a stud, a little more quiet than my last companion, but that's alright. He hasn't been out too long on his mission. 4 1/2 months to be exact. He still has some "greenie" moments haha. It is all good though.

We've had a blast sitting around campfires all week long now that the weather is cooling down. Today is the first time I've worn long pants on a Pday and this morning when we did our workout at 5 am, I even wore a sweater!!! Crazy!... 

The work is a bit slow right now... But it will pick up soon when we hit hard with the Family Mission plans that we have to do with 35 member families. Hopefully we can get at least 1 a day. 

We've got a few investigators but they are all 70 haha. Never too late I guess! A lady named Lora has a baptismal date on for 6 weeks or so. 

We had a ward social (Fall Festival) with lots of food, candy, trunk or treating, hayrides, campfires all over the place, it was awesome! So many non-members came and it was so big and loud that random people driving by decided to stop by and see what all the ruckus was about. 

Charlie Wiggins, an older fellow whose fixin to pass soon, invited us over to give a blessing and to give the sacrament to him yesterday. Super spiritual!! It's amazing what the Lord teaches you and the things he has you say when you are truly a mouth piece for him. After a good while, he asks his wife to go into his closet and bring out 4 pairs of boots. He had us try them on then gave each of us 2. These things are 400 bucks a pop made out of Ostrich skin. Woo baby!! He also gave us some bolo ties and next time we go over he's giving us a cowboy hat.. This man is amazing... So selfless... He's hoping to make me a true southerner now.  We had a little photo shoot, I'll send some of the pics to y'all as well.

That's about it for this week. Right now, I seem to be learning a lot about myself. The Lord is revealing my weaknesses, which are many believe me, and he's helping me become more Christlike. I've had a lot of trials recently, times where I've really need to look deep within and humble myself to him. This week when I partook of the sacrament I had a great spiritual, rejuvenating experience. I've often reflected upon the talks in this last General Conference, "Are we not all beggars?" Along with "Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence" I highly recommend y'all to make time and go back and study it them if you have not already. I'm so grateful for modern day prophets and apostles who receive revelation for us pertaining to our time here in the last days. May we all come closer to the Lord this next week and feel of His love for us.

Love,

Elder Greenlaw

Pulled out the good ol' polish and leather this morning. What a difference! 

Sorry for the blurriness.... Yeeehaaaa!! 

Elder Greenlaw and Elder Conner Andersen

Me and sweet lil Princess Olivia 

Chandler Gets Baptized

Hello! 

Transfers are this week. We just got the news that Elder Dean is leaving! He's headed to St Johns, the neighboring Ward of Fleming Island ( old area of mine). I'll be pretty sad to see him go, we really enjoyed our time together.

I'll be with Elder Connor Andersen who I know already. He's been serving in Gville 2nd Ward, my first area, and so when I was in the 3rd Ward I went on a few trade offs with him. He's pretty awesome! Track star at Alta High School! Haha Funny how all my comps are so close to home in Utah. He's 18, and has only been out for 7 1/2 months or so now.

It's been a great week! Chandler was dunked! Sister Brandi Waters called me a few nights ago telling me about her relationship with Tiana which is hilarious. Such a small world right! 

We've been focusing on Family Mission Plans with every one here recently. We set up power point projects and everything, totally reminded me of high school..... Yuck.... Hopefully we can start generating some referrals. Our teaching pool is pretty small right now cause they all just got dunked! Haha. Oh well, life is good. I'm staying happy and healthy and I'm excited for some change here pretty soon. 

The weather is PERFECT!!  Best time all year. I'm in heaven! 

We ran a 5k for the Union County Library this week. Without really training, I was able to get 1st at 22 minutes and Elder Dean got second at 23. It was a lot fun! 

The night of Chandlers baptism, his fiancé Tanner's family threw a huge Halloween party. We had a lot of fun, it was hard being a missionary though and having to restrict my crazy self from running the dance floor. We switched name tags and wore out snake skin ties for our costumes. 

Service this week consisted of weeding and preparing a garden, chasing chickens, and helping someone move. This is the life! 

Talk to you soon!

Elder Greenlaw

Elder Greenlaw took 1st place. 

Elder Greenlaw, Chandler, and Elder Dean

Elder Greenlaw, Chandler Mann, Tanner LeMay, Elder Dean

The only reason! 

Charlotte Cox Hart, Elder Hayden Greenlaw,Merrill Hart, David Waters, Tanner Mackinzie LeMay,Zachary Chandler Mann and Elder Daniel Dean.

A Southern Snack

Kelvin Gets Baptized!

This last week has been a good one for sure. Kelvin Simmons was able to get baptized!! When Elder Dean and I first got put together we made a goal to baptize a homie, and we definitely did. His mother, mother-in-law, and sister all came to the baptism and church. We are hoping to start teaching them. We also went to a little kids birthday party and just starting talking to people. We got three return appointments for this week and are going to teach members of his family haha. We also had some miracles through media referrals. A less active member went to Mormon.org and asked for a visit from us. He had just gotten out of prison and wanted to get his life straight! This Saturday we have another baptism too, Chandler Mann!! Tonight we're having the last discussion about temples, missionary work, family history, the Priesthood, stuff like that and then fine tuning the details for this Saturday. I can't wait!!!

The Lord is preparing the hearts of his children. We've been blessed with opportunities to keep us really busy and bring peace and comfort to many through the message of the gospel. The gospel works miracles within people. I am so blessed to be an instrument in the Lords hands to create the opportunity for him, then sit back and watch him work his miracles.

Until next week, 

Elder Greenlaw

Kelvin Simmon's Baptism -  Davide Cranford, Brother Kelvin Simmon, Elder Greenlaw, and Elder Dean

So excited about this day! 

Starke District - Elder Dean, Elder Hayden Greenlaw,Elder Collin Francom, Sister-Baylee Koenig, Sister-Danielle Hart, Elder Erik Sharp, Sister-Aubrey Snelgrove, Sister-Laura Perkes, Elder Daniel Dean,Elder Tyler Green, Sister-Kelsey Donohue, Sister-Meagan Williams, Elder Arick Collett, Sister-Lauren Atkinson and Sister-Whitney Davidson

Solid Investigators

Hey y'all,

Things are going great here in Lake Butler, Fl. Elder Dean is such a great guy, definitely someone I would chill with back home. Since he lives 10 minutes away in Highland, we've already planned multiple double dates that we're going to have with the girls! It is a little embarrassing that he's  on the BYU ballroom dance team.... 

The work is going well, but slow at times. We've got some really solid people we've been teaching the past 6 weeks or so but the problem is we only see them once a week. It's been a roller coaster ride with Kelvin. He's been one of the most solid investigators I've ever taught. Ever y lesson in a members home, and after the first discussion he tells us he knows it's all true and he wants to get baptized. Once he got his interview and PASSED..... We didn't hear from him for 4 weeks! This last week we finally met with him and set his baptism for this next Sunday, the 19th. Hurrah for Israel!! 

The next weekend, the 25th, Chandler is getting baptized also! Just last week he told us he received his confirmation that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and Joseph Smith is a prophet! Prayers are answered people!!! His biggest concern was the acceptance of his family. He talked to his parents, who have been anti-Mormon for years, and they said they don't necessarily believe or accept his beliefs, but they will support him in anything he chooses to do. We're meeting with him tonight to finish up the commandments and can't wait to see him get baptized and then married to Tanner in December! Hopefully I'm still here for it! 

We've got service projects coming out the wazoo and we're now focusing on family mission plans and home teaching less actives from here on out.

Love y'all! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Love, Elder Greenlaw

Zone Conference with Elder and Sister Golden from the first quorum of the seventy! 

Big Truck! 

Making service fun! Elder Greenlaw With Elder Dean!