Transfers and new beginnings

This week I wanted to start by talking about a Micheal Jordan quote that I heard this week. It says "I've 

missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I have been trusted to 

take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over in my life and that is why I Succeed." 

So when we fail do not think it is a bad thing it is just a time to realize what we need to work on. If we 

just skated through everything and never failed we would never learn. To be honest it would be a lot 

like Satan's plan. That is why failure is not a bad thing we need it so that we can return to our Heavenly 

Father. So the next time you fail or do not do something up to what you think that you should, 

remember that it was part of Heavenly Father's plan for us to fail and get knocked down. This way, we 

learn to get out of the situation we can be stronger. We can always learn something when we fail and 

that is what I hope we all do. This week when something does not work out think what can I learn from 

this. What could I have done better to have made it work better and what can I do differently?

I found out that I will be in the same area next transfer. I will be with a missionary that I do not know a 

whole lot about, but I am excited to get to know him. He will be the District leader and I am a little sad 

that I am not the District leader any more, but it will be nice to take a little bit of a break and just be a 

normal missionary for a little bit. I have not been one of those because I was being trained, training 

and then District leader for two transfers so it will be nice to take a break from all of that for a little bit. 

I am excited for the next transfer and I love you all. This past week we have been working on a new list 

for the branch so nothing really all too interesting. Have a good week and I love you all. Study your 

scriptures every day and pray 

Elder Sproul

Runner's High

So this week I started running again and I think there is an analogy with running that can be very applicable to missionary work and life. So I was thinking about it and if you like running and have done it for a while then you have probably reached that runner's high before. The first couple times you run or in the beginning when you are just starting out it is hard to get to that runner's high. You try super hard and maybe at like 3 miles in you just stop because you can not push any more and never really do reach that high. I think that this can be very applicable to the gospel because there are a lot of members and investigators who never actually reach that runner's high. Their road blocks can be many things, but until they keep pushing through the hardest time of the run they can not get to that high they are chasing. That is why I think that a lot of people fall away from the church because they get to the difficult part of the run or journey and they just quit, but that is when the missionaries and members need to be there to pull them through that difficult part. Think of the times that you have been running alone or with other people. How much easier is it to keep running when you had someone else running with you? So don't think that when they become active again or just get baptized or are regularly coming to church our work is done. We need to be the person that goes and befriends someone that is feeling lonely and bring help them to reach that runners high or what I am going to say now is that spiritual high. Sometimes it is hard to reach, but when we really try to do the Lord's will we will be able reach the spiritual high and get through the most difficult part of the run. This doesn't mean that the run still won't be hard. We still have to keep running, but we have already gotten through the hardest part and learned lessons from that. So when we start running the next time we will be able to feel that spiritual high again. This is just something I have been thinking about because me and Elder Christensen have been getting up and running lately. The other day I wanted to see how fast I could run a mile and I ran one in 5:57. I was surprised because that was the first time I have ever broken the 6 min mile. 

Other than that I have started reading the Book of Mormon on faith and am loving it. If you want a topic to read about it really is a good one. There are a lot of instances in 1st Nephi where there is faith shown and when faith is not shown. I really loved studying the difference between faith and knowledge because Lamen and Lemuel had a lot of knowledge, but no faith, and that is why they fell. I would say that faith is probably the most important principle because it leads to everything else.

I know that the church is true and if you have never felt that spiritual high it is probably because you have never pushed through the difficult times. It is when we try our faith and push through that we feel it the Savior's presence the most. If there were no trials we would never grow. I love you all and have an amazing week. 

Elder Sproul

Conference and more Conference

I wanted to take some time to talk a little bit about conference and what I got out of it.  If you have not

watched it I would invite you to watch it little by little. I know it is a lot and can be a little much at times, 

but it really is there to benefit us and we can pull something out of each and every talk that can benefit

our lives. 

These are the things that came up a lot in conference or I just liked.

1. Seeing them as Christ sees them as a child of God. 

It is very important that we see everyone as a child of God and as he would see us. Sometimes when people

are yelling at you or are trying to argue with you it can be a little difficult to see them as that, but we have 

to try each and everyday to do the will of the Savior and as we do that we will begin to see them as the 

Savior does. 

2.  Looking up

When we are going through hard times we don't need to do anything but look up. Just be grateful for the 

little things and be amazed that we are able to live on the world today. Look up at the heavens and search 

for them and we will be blessed. 

3. During conference 2 of the most important ordinances are shut down

During these 12 hours of conference 2 important ordinances are shut down. There is no sacrament and 

no one is at the temple. We are just watching conference and that is it. It really put it in perspective how 

important conference was for me. So in the future remember that although conference is not a saving 

ordinance our leaders find it important enough to stop those important ordinances to have conference. 

I would love to know what you learned from conference and who your favoirte speakers are so let me 

know. I hope that you have an amazing week and remember that it is never too late to watch conference 

if you have not yet. I love all of you. 

Elder Spoul 

Done with the dentist

So I can finally say that I will not have to go back to the dentist again. Well at least for now. I finished the surgery and everything was good. I actually found out that he did the surgery and I did not even know that he did it. So it must have been a pretty good surgery because I asked him when we were going to do it and he said that he already finished it. I was a little bit surprised when I heard that, but relieved because it did not hurt at all. I had heard that it was one of the most painful things, but I guess for me it was not. So I am just glad to be able to be done with that and not to have to go back there again. It was just using up a lot of our time to go all the way there and then coming back. I thought you would all be wondering about that and what was going on with that so yeah that is what has been going on with that.

Other than that we have been working with an investigator who has been investigating the church for some while now. He knows basically everything about the church because he has family members who are members in Orem Utah. His brother brought him a triple combination so that he could learn English and read The Book of Mormon. His only problem is that he does not have a marriage license but we are hoping to work with that still. You can tell that the desire is there, but he just does not know how it is possible to get a marriage license when he is a citizen of Russia. I think maybe he does not want to become a citizen of Armenia or something I do not know everything, but I do know that his wife has wanted to get one for quite some time. Writing this letter has made me realize that maybe that is something that I can ask the next time I see him. If he would want to become a citizen of Armenia so that he can get married. That is basically the step that he needs to make so. 

I know that this church is true and that without is we would not be able to return to live with our Father in Heaven because there would be no path. Once we realize that this is the most important thing in life we will be so much happier in our lives. Read and pray every day even if it is only for 5 minutes is it a whole lot better than zero. All you have to do is try and you will see the improvement in your life and it will begin to improve you spiritually, but temporal things will be better too. Try it and you will see. 

Elder Sproul