"Hey everyone, hope everyone is having a wonderful time preparing for the holidays, it's a good time to be alive. This was the last week of the transfers, and I'm staying here with Elder Stettler for the next 6 weeks. The next transfer will be on Christmas Eve, so that won't really be hard to remember. They are doing a lot of transfers now because the next transfer date is Christmas Eve, and they are trying not to have to move a lot of people then."
"Well this week has been kinda hectic, a lot is going on in my district. They are moving the sisters to another apartment, so we have to go and help them move all their stuff. We've also been planning things at the wrong time. There would be one appointment and then our next appointment would be on the complete opposite side of town. But all is well."
"We had a lot of members come out with us this last week, and we took them out knocking with us. We got to the second door, and we met this really cool girl who is open minded and just recently had a death in the family, her brother. She told us to come back after school was done, so in a few weeks we will stop by and see how she liked the pamphlet we left with her."
"We stopped by a lot of the less actives in our ward, but there was hardly anybody home, so we basically got nowhere. In that situation we would usually knock the street, but we have already done so, plus all the surrounding streets. We are going to have to work harder this next transfer. I feel like I have accomplished almost nothing, and it has been getting me very frustrated, but I know it's not the work of God that's frustrated but the work of man. I need to do better, I need to sacrifice more."
"Vania was supposed to come to church on Sunday, but she didn't, the only one that we are actually really working with. She hasn't been to church yet, but she promised she would next week."
"The only thing that was really exciting this week, was probably on Monday at District Meeting. I felt the spirit so strong, probably one of the strongest I've ever felt it. We were talking about how when we bare our testimony, we have to be sincere, instead of just repeating ourselves at every door the same thing. "I know this church is true." Sometimes we get into the habit of just saying it instead of it being sincere. So we were talking about that, how we could feel the spirit every time we bare our testimony, and Elder Cope said we have to EXPECT to feel it. That hit me really hard. So I asked Elder Coffin and Sister Riddle to bear their testimonies since they were leaving. They were really powerful, and I felt the spirit really strong. Then I had to get back up and close. I bore my testimony, and that's when I felt the spirit really strong. It was amazing, I love that feeling."
An excerpt of a talk given by Elder M. Russell Ballard on what a pure testimony is:
"Like almost everything else in life, testimonies grow and develop through experience and service. We often hear some members, and especially children, bear their testimonies, listing things for which they are thankful: their love of family, the Church, their teachers, their friends. For them, the gospel is something that they are grateful for because it makes them feel happy and secure. This is a good beginning, but testimonies need to be much more. They need to be anchored very early to the first principles of the gospel...My experience throughout the Church leads me to worry that too many of our members’ testimonies linger on “I am thankful” and “I love,” and too few are able to say with humble but sincere clarity, “I know.” As a result, our meetings sometimes lack the testimony-rich, spiritual underpinnings that stir the soul and have meaningful, positive impact on the lives of all those who hear them. Our testimony meetings need to be more centered on the Savior, the doctrines of the gospel, the blessings of the Restoration, and the teachings of the scriptures. We need to replace stories, travelogues, and lectures with pure testimonies. Those who are entrusted to speak and teach in our meetings need to do so with doctrinal power that will be both heard and felt, lifting the spirits and edifying our people." To read the talk, go to: http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/EmailArticleProcess?action=view&cmlId=370548&locale=0&emId=441672909
"Elder Nielsen and I bought some Christmas lights yesterday and we have been decorating our room, it's so awesome! I Love you all! I appreciate all that you do for me."
-Elder Brox
"Hey everyone, hope everyone is having a wonderful time preparing for the holidays, it's a good time to be alive. This was the last week of the transfers, and I'm staying here with Elder Stettler for the next 6 weeks. The next transfer will be on Christmas Eve, so that won't really be hard to remember. They are doing a lot of transfers now because the next transfer date is Christmas Eve, and they are trying not to have to move a lot of people then." 
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