There is some good work to be done in Kentucky!

A pretty good week!

Monday started with teaching a family about church. They are in a bit of a tough spot because the mom keeps being scheduled to work Sunday mornings and the husband doesn't want to go without her. They weren't able to come to church, but she has asked to have all other Sunday mornings off in the future, which is a great start! We then went to go see a former investigator that Elder Woffinden and I had never met with. He was a really cool guy. He is a huge computer nerd and loves video games. He and I were able to talk about that for a little while, some of the stuff he said about computers went a little over my head. We finally got to talking about the gospel and he has come to an interesting conclusion about religion in general. He said that religion just doesn't hold a very high priority in his life. He has tried a bunch of different religions, and nothing has clicked. He thinks that the only thing that will make it click would be to see God himself. It will be interesting seeing if he ends up progressing or not. It was also surprising to find someone who doesn't have a strong Christian belief around here. Most people are Southern Baptist, which that itself is fairly hard to deal with. 

We were able to go to the temple on Tuesday. We went to the Louisville temple. Oh my word, that thing is tiny! I am so used to the much bigger temples in Utah. It was interesting to be in. What was also interesting, is that the exact same spirit is there in the tiny Louisville temple as the larger ones that I have been to. I loved noticing that. It was also an interesting experience because I was fasting that day with the entire mission. President Porter asked us to so that we could have added strength to reach our goals as a mission. I liked that. 

There was a family that moved into the bottom apartment of our building. The father is a member, but he hasn't been to church in about 15 years. He also has a wife and step son. They are all really nice people. We have been teaching them and they really like what we have to say. Our goal is to reactivate him and have him baptize the rest of his family. They have some things to overcome, but I know that they can do it. 

One day this week, we were knocking some doors at night. I really don't like doing that. It is a time that it really feels like we are bothering people. It also seems like the time we are going to get a gun pulled on us. Especially in a trailer park. Boy, does that make me anxious! We finally got to the last house that we were going to knock and a man came to the door. We gave him our spiel and he said that we could come over to see him and his roommate the next night. So we did and we had an awesome lesson with them! The spirit was so strong! We even committed one of them to a baptismal date! He now can't get baptized on that date because he wasn't able to come to church, but I think that he could get there! They both could.

That last experience was really helpful. By doing something that really makes me uncomfortable, we were able to find some fantastic investigators! I am really grateful for this and to continue to find out that it doesn't matter how I feel, what matters is that I am finding the people who need this gospel. I can't wait to have more experiences like this. 

Thank you, I love you, 

Louisville Kentucky Temple

Elder Hayden Cannon 

The famous Cincinnati Chili

Ups and Downs...

This week started off just fine. P-day was pretty good. We went to a church and played a bunch of games with other missionaries. We played this one basketball game that I actually did pretty well at. I think it was because I got most of my points from rebounds. When ever I would play as a deacon or teacher I was told to stand under the hoop and get rebounds because I am big and tall. So that was pretty fun. Tuesday, I went on an exchange with the District Leader, Elder Macfarlane. He is an awesome missionary! He is just able to talk with everyone! It was really cool to be able to teach some lessons with him. For dinner that night, we went to Gold Star Chili, Skyline Chili's competitor. Elder Macfarlane said that they are pretty much the same. So I got to try the famous chili that everyone talks about. It was pretty good, I guess. It definitely wasn't bad. I think I will have to try it again sometime. As we were leaving, Elder Macfarlane asked, "So what did you think of the Chili?" I said, "That I need to try it again." I also need to compare it to Skyline Chili. There was a picture taken, but it was on Elder Macfalane's camera, I will get it to you next week. 

Wednesday, was an interesting one. The first person we saw was Daniel. We had a couple more lessons to teach him and we wanted to see if he could fit into one of the baptismal jumpsuits we had. We got there, he attempted to try on the jumpsuit (he is a very large person), and then we started talking. Daniel said that he had a dream where the Lord showed him all of the churches that his father took him to growing up. He says that the Lord told him that those are the churches that he needs to be at. He said that he no longer wanted to be baptized. Daniel said that he doesn't think that the Mormon church is true any more. We tried to do what we could to know that the spirit wouldn't direct him away from the church, but it was all for none. We left Daniel's house and I had the weirdest feeling, I don't know what it was. All we could really do was go to our next appointment. I am so glad we did. We taught a man named Chet. We had met him and his wife earlier and they had us come back, but only Chet was there. We taught him outside of his apartment because he had some people over who are rather weird. There was a bunch of kids running around as well as some other lady running and asking everyone if they knew where Jennifer was. We were pretty sure she was high. Even though we had all of these distractions, we were still able to have a really good lesson with Chet. He really enjoyed it and said that he couldn't wait for us to teach his wife. We really needed that after we had just been dropped by Daniel. 

Something that was also happening this week was a finding challenge. Would get 1 point for finding a new investigator, 3 points if an investigator was a referral, 5 points if we found a family, and 8 points if we found a family that was a referral. This was a mission wide competition. The zone with the most points would get some of Sister Porter's cinnamon rolls. There was another competition within the zone, the companionship who got the most points gets to go to Olive Garden with the zone leaders. I don't know who won for the overall mission, but Elder Woffiden and I won the zone competition with 27 points! That was another pick-me-up needed after Daniel dropped us. 

This really is hard work, but I love doing it. I have a lot of things to work on while I'm here, but that is half of the fun! I can't wait to see the improvements that are happening within me as I go throughout my mission.

Thank you, I love you

Elder Hayden Cannon 

First Week in the Field!

First week in the field has been a pretty good one! I have really enjoyed it. The flight was good, it wasn't horribly long, but long enough to get a little sleep. I instantly felt the humidity when I got off the plane and it wasn't even that humid! This should be interesting to see how much I agree with the weather. We went to the mission home, had dinner, played some games, had a devotional, and went to bed. Sometime in there, we were taken to this park that has an amazing view of Cincinnati. It was super cool!

The next day we went to the Transfer meeting. This is where I found out who my companion is and where I would be serving. My companion is Elder Woffinden and we are serving in the Crittendon, Kentucky area. (If you say "Crittendon" in a southern accent, without really emphasizing the T's in the middle, you are saying correctly.) I really liked that day because it was raining super hard, even harder than it was when I went into the MTC! Elder Woffinden and I were taken back to Crittendon by a member, Lance, and his friend, Bob, who is an investigator. These guys are most definitely southern. Lance doesn't seem real. He seems like what you would think of if SNL made a character that was southern. The way he talks is so funny! You can hardly understand what he is saying. I can't convey the way he sound through text, I will have to tell you when I get back. As we were headed back to Crittendon, I realized that I didn't get bedding back at the Church where the transfer meeting was. Elder Woffinden said we would work it out when we got to the apartment. But Lance for got to get some things back at the church, so we were able to go get the bedding! That experience, though small, was definitely something that showed my that Heavenly Father is looking out for me. We told this to Lance and he said, "See, I'm not forgetful! I'm just inspired!" 

There was another time in the car that was supper funny! Lance was in the passenger seat with his window rolled down and pouring rain. Somehow, the rain wasn't really getting to him. All of a sudden, this car zooms past us splashing Lance with so much water! Bob, trying to get away from the car that was splashing us, speed up, but all he really did was keep up with the car that was splashing us, therefore, splashing Lance continuously. I was laughing so hard! I really needed that. 

When we finally got to Crittendon, we immediately went to go teach Daniel who is getting baptized this Saturday! He already had a date before I got there, but that just shows me that the work is progressing here in Crittendon. (Also, I have been here less than a week and I have already been asked to sing at Daniel's baptism. Elder Woffinden ratted me out.) We taught him about the word of wisdom, which he had no real problem with. During the lesson, Lance went on a rant about how if you drink whole milk, you wont ever get diabetes. I didn't quite understand him, but Elder Woffinden says he is a scientist. I don't know, I guess you should drink whole milk...

Teaching has been my favorite part. It is just something that I am comfortable with. My theatre background has helped me in my confidence in teaching. Where I am struggling though is just talking to people on the street. I think it is weird. I just seems awkward to me to go up to people and ask them if they want to talk about Jesus. I have somethings to work on. Luckily, I have time to work on them and I am in the right place to do so. 

I loved Conference! There were so many amazing talks! The one that really stuck out to me was Elder Durrant's about "Ponderizing" scripture. I thought that this was a great idea. I loved what he said about it giving our mind a place to go when it is wondering. I am one whose mind wonders and giving it a place to go, like the scriptures, is exactly what I need in order to help me stay focused on the work that needs to be done. 

I really like being out here. It is most definitely a different place than anywhere I have lived. Everything is weirdly spread out making it hard to decide if it is better to drive or walk. The people are different. Oh my word, the people are different. Good people, but different. Delightful, but different. Welcome to Kentucky! I am excited to continue working here and can't wait to help bring people to the gospel. 

Thank you, I love you, 

Elder Hayden Cannon