We had a sweet week! We had a lot go on and we had a super awesome baptism. We didn't do much finding but we have a few good lessons set up. There was also a very amazing experience. First I'll tell you some new then I'll talk about what was so amazing.

I went to the dermatologist this morning. They took off my mole and are checking it out. The doctor said it should be just fine. I have to wait for my hand to heal. It's weird to have a hole in my hand. I haven't looked at it closely yet cuz it's so gross and weird. Anyway it's off and i'm glad about that.

So now for the super cool experience. We had that great baptism of Ainur and Altinnur Jeikey. They are great super cool twins from Mongolia. They were baptized and confirmed on Saturday. We had the Brigham City Temple dedication here instead of church Sunday. As you know you have to be a member of the church and have a recommend to go to one. Well Ainur and Altinnur met with the bishop right after their baptism and got to go! They showed up and were so excited and happy. The Spirit was very strong and made me so happy. It was so cool to sit at a temple dedication with people that had been members of the Church less than 24 hours. The ward was supportive of everything and they are excited. The Bishop said he wants to have a baptism in his ward every month. I'mm all for it. We have one set up on Oct. 6! Dane is gonna get baptized! It's so exciting! I love being on a mission and I love this area. It's so cool to hang out with people my age and then get people baptized. It's so much fun.

I love you guys!

-Elder Damewood

We've been having some super great lessons! We got like 6 referrals this week!. We added 3 new investigators! We had a great lesson with Ainur and Altinnur. They recieved an answer right there that they are supposed to be baptized. Their baptism is Saturday. 

We met a guy named Dane who is super prepared. He accepted to be baptized the first visit! Oct6! We met with Hillary and she got an answer to be baptized but to wait until her life calms down. I usually get disappointed when that happens but the Spirit told me it was best for her. I care about her so much. I want her to be baptized at the right time rather than rush into it cuz I want a number. I'm excited for this coming week. Pray that we will find people and that my throat will feel better. 

I love you have a great week!

-Elder Damewood

Hey everyone!

 I can't believe it's been pretty much a year. The time has gone so fast and the privilege of being in this mission is half over. 

 We had a pretty good week. We didn't really meet all of our goals. It was transfer week and as a zone leader it's even busier. All the districts got entirely moved around. Things were insane but they've calmed down. We have a few potential investigators and yesterday we had great lessons. Hillary is almost on date. Plus we actually got a referral in our almost always empty referral box!! I was so excited. We had great lessons with Ainur and Altinnur (the twins from Mongolia) and Jiyoun (from Korea) is doing very well. This is such a boss area and it'll give me a great start to my second year.  

 I've been thinking about what I want to be different about this year. My first and most important goal is to baptize more! President Winn said the key to success is faith. I will increase my faith by having more effective studies, following the schedule better and striving to do whatever it takes to have the spirit with me. I'm excited for this next year and I want to have 2x as many baptisms as last year. I have 30 so far, I want 60 next year... It could happen but it'll be really hard. I can't give up!

Hey guys,

  My week was good. It was the last week of the transfer. We had a baptism. She was so solid we didn't have to teach her anything. It was the easiest baptism ever! I loved it! 

Yeah the zone is doing well. I'm very tired. Being a zone leader is tough work. 

I'm not sure what else to talk about. My companion is getting transferred. It's ok though. It happens. Well I ought-ta get going. We are going to the Salt Lake Bee's Baseball game. 

Oh! Dad! We sang that hymn in church that says Victory! Victory! and it was about 10 times so slow. I turned to my companion and had this sad tired look on my face while singing and we both cracked up! I thought you'd like that story.

I love you,

-Elder Damewood

 Yeah it is getting close to the hump day! It's gone so fast! It really doesn't feel like it was that long!

We almost reached the standard......... We were 3 baptisms short. We had everything else!!!!! We needed 12 baptisms, we had 17 on date and ended up with 9!!!! I'm so upset about that.

We had a surprise baptism though. Gi-Man Lee from Korea got baptized. 

it was a ton of fun this week. we all worked really hard and our faith was built. it was a record week for the New Salt Lake Mission. We had 55 baptisms. The record for the old mission is 88 though! 

We did service at the humanitarian center today. it was fun. I don't know why President chose our p-day to do service though. the rules say to avoid doing service on p-day. It was pretty cool though. We were putting together backpacks full of supplies for kids. I asked the zone, "Doesn't this just give you back to school fever?" It was pretty funny. The answer was a big "no" almost in unison from everyone else.

Another cool thing was that we have 3 people on date right now. There are these twin girls from Mongolia that started to meet with us. They are so solid. Then there's this one girl Juliana who texted us and referred herself. It was so cool! I'm so happy that school started again. The work has really picked up!

I sure love being a missionary here. It's tons of fun. Not only do we do a lot of fun things, we also help people who can't do this for themselves. It's cool to be having an all around awesome experience. I love my mission and I can't believe it's already pretty much half over. I just now feel like I know what I'm doing. We had an amazing lesson last night. There's this girl Hillary. She's always had a rough life and she's so caring. We helped her see that it's not selfish to look into this just for her. She deserves and needs to be happy. It's so cool to see her get that answer from God in the lesson. It's crazy how God can give you love for someone. I just met Hillary (and all these other amazing investigators) and I love them before I even really know them. It's so fun!

Have a great week. I'm glad the Hurricane didn't come.

love,

-Elder Damewood

Hey! 

 We had a super awesome week! I really loved it. We had 2 baptisms! 

  Doctrine and Covenants 4:1 "Now behold a marvelous work is about to come forth [in the Salt Lake Zone of the Utah Salt Lake City Mission]." You know the Standard of Excellence right? Well we are going to hit it as a zone. I'm so pumped for it! We have the people on date ready for this weekend. We are gonna have at least 12 baptisms 36 on date 60 to church 96 lessons with members present and 36 new investigators in this zone this week. Please pray for this to happen. We know it's what the Lord wants and we're so excited for it. 

Man it's not easy being a zone leader but it sure is worth it when you get to be a part of something so cool. I am so excited to hit the Standard. It really rekindled the fire in me. I love it so much.

Man we ate at Taco Time (cuz it's free) and now I feel yucky. Plus I'm still a little carsick from texting in the car. I'm having so much fun out here on my mission. I can't believe how fast time is going! It's crazy. Things are going good in our area as well. We had a busy day and found a few people at church yesterday. School started today and there's a lot more people to baptize here now. I love it. 

I love missionary work! The Church is true. The Book is blue. May the force be with you!

I love you

-Elder Damewood

Hey guys,

Thanks for the birthday package. The cake didn't turn out but I'll put the frosting and candles on a cobbler we got... maybe. I really liked the presents though. Thank you so much.  We just got done at the Salt Lake temple this morning. It was really great. I hadn't gone in like 9 months I really missed it. 

That is what being a zone leader is like... minus the glory... It's still fun and I get to work with some amazing missionaries. I can't wait for Skylar to go either. I'm like a year ahead of him. Brooke is starting senior year! That's crazy! 

This week was awesome for us. We put this guy Jake on date and then this girl Devin came back from her trip to Orlando and the first thing she said to us when we saw her at church was, "I wanna get baptized" It was so exciting! We didn't find anyone new this week but we worked well with the people we have. I had a good birthday. The member we live with gave me cookies and a gift card. He's way nice. I got a great card from this cool girl I know ;) and Elder Singleton got a package on my birthday it was funny. 

Well I gotta go now,

I love you,

Elder Damewood

Dear family,

 You guys rock! I got my box but I haven't opened the presents. I read the note. Thanks. I was frustrated when I saw them all wrapped. I knew I'd have to wait. I'm excited for that though! AHHHHHHH I'm gonna be 20. how are the Olympics? I got to watch like 10 seconds of them total so far. It seemed kinda good. 

 We're gonna try and have a baptism on my birthday. We'll see if we can find one.  Thanks for all you do for me. It means a lot I'm having the best time out here! I love it!

Things are going good in this area. We met some cool people and they're starting to progress. The one thing about college kids is they like to think. It's good to think and understand but you can't have a testimony without paying attention to your feelings. They'll get it eventually.

Well I hope you guys have an awesome week!

I love you,

Elder Damewood

Hey guys!

 This week was crazy busy. I was so sad to leave Green River but I'm glad to be here. It's so crazy busy being a zone leader. I know hardly anyone in my zone and it's kinda stressful. I wanna get to know them all better. George is awesome! I like staying in his house. We're in the basement so it's nice and cool. 

Yellowstone is awesome I'm so glad you were able to go. Speaking of the Hinkley building the institute building at the U of U looks just like it! It makes me miss BYUI and that's the building where Cassandra had church in college when we were both there. It sure is weird. I was hardly in the benson. That's the science bldg. The ricks is math. I'll be there a lot. The Taylor is the girl bldg. That's where the cooking and sewing and stuff like that is. The MC is where food is so it's my favorite!

This week should be good. Pray that we find a lot of people and that our mission will reach 3500 baptisms this year please. I like this area a lot even though I really miss the people in Green River. 

I love you. Have an amazing week and a safe flight.

-Elder Damewood

Hey, 

  How are ya? It's so cool that you're in Idaho. I like it there a lot. Did you have fun in rexburg?

We didn't have a baptism but we had a good week. There's a lot going on in this area. I'm sad to have to leave it soon. I want to stay here for the rest of my mission! We have a lot of solid people that are getting ready to be baptized! We had a few great lessons today. We also went atv-ing this morning. The scenery is awesome. There was a part where we drove through the river. It was so cool. You gotta meet the family that took us. They're great! I'll send the pics and videos when I have time. It was so much fun!

I'll tell you what my new address is on Friday. 

I really don't wanna leave Green River. It's so much fun and the work is going great! My companion is great and things are just amazing here! Well I don't have much time. We had a busy day and just had to squeeze in time to email. 

I love you,

-Elder Damewood