HALLAH FAM AND FRIENDS!!!!
This week has flown by and I still cannot believe that this week over let alone the transfer! I did get my transfer call yesterday and have received exciting news, BUT I will leave that on a cliffhanger to add a little bit more pizazz and festive flair to this email and start with the spiritual thought with Elder McMullin! Something that has been on my mind a lot recently is the Millennial and Gen Z term of "Full Send". This is one of my favorite slang terms to use in the fact that it can be yelled, whispered, or signed and it still holds the same meaning of putting in all of your efforts and pushing through, no matter the difficulty or judgment received. Although often used as a peer pressuring device I believe that there are a lesson and principle that we can not only apply to our lives, but also in our efforts of becoming disciples of Jesus Christ. As we strive each and every day to "Full Send" it with the Lord by giving it our all in each and every daily effort, regardless if we are wearing a missionary tag or just our regular everyday clothes, HE will bless you immensely! There is no such thing as a "half send" or a "quarter sends" only a "FULL send" meaning we either give the Lord our all and "let God prevail in our lives" or we contribute nothing and let ourselves enter a numbed state of temporal happiness. I also echo the words of Sister Atkin when she said "We have had an eternity to prepare for this life, and we will have eternity to reflect on it. But we only have a limited time to live it". My sweet Brothers and Sisters, know that I love you and that the Lord loves you SO much, and that by "Full Sending" our efforts in this life to follow and teach of Him you will receive immense blessings that will truly make your soul radiate the Light and Love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Okay now for the time you have all been waiting for (cue the lights dimming and a single letter on a silver platter being carried onto the stage). I... Will... Be... Staying in Bismarck and remaining the chair of advertising for the North Dakota Bismarck Mission. Elder Post will also continue to be my companion and will also become the Zone Leader with Elder Tran Kan Bichon (yep, the very same one that trained me back in Fargo in my first transfer). Not going to lie both President Howell and I were not expecting this because this will be my fourth transfer together with Elder Post and my fourth transfer in the office here in Bismarck, but hey I now get to be assistant to the Zone Leaders which is practically assistant Zone Leader so that will be fun! I was also assigned a couple of new unique assignments which are a little bit stressful but exciting! The first is practically becoming the lawyer for the mission in making sure all of our Social Media efforts are not infringing intellectual property rights, copyright, etc. while also handling disputes, complaints, profile flagging, and charging. Then my second assignment is creating and teaching a two-day curriculum nicknamed "SM Boot Camp" where I will be teaching all internationally reassigned missionaries in the NDBM and possibly nearby Sister Missions how to best utilize the tools of advertising and create an effective Church-based advertising platform. So yah, the exciting life of Elder McMullin continues!!!
FRIEND UPDATE!!! Not going to lie this week has been stellar teaching wise. If you remember last week's email Elder Post found a super nice guy through Instagram who used to live in Bismarck, North Dakota, but recently moved to Leesville, Louisiana due to his deployment in the armed forces. However, thanks to the miracle of technology we were able to have five spiritual lessons with him and were also able to transfer him over to a set of Sisters that are over his area. Elder Post and I were crazy excited when the Sisters called thanking us for the referral and how Haven came to Church yesterday and bore his testimony about how he knows that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that he can be forgiven of his sins through baptism and the atonement of Jesus Christ. Needless to say, Elder Post and I better be invited to virtually attend the baptism. In other news, we have worked out the snag with Eugene and he is now progressing super quickly and is becoming more and more able to feel spiritual promptings like waking up earlier than usual to come to our church and bare his testimony with scripture references for the first time about how Jesus Christ in acts change in our hearts. Again, this week was awesome and with another six weeks of finding and teaching, I hope to find even more people willing and ready to receive the gospel.
My sweet friends and family, I hope that you had an amazing holiday season and that the transition back to normal life is gentle. I also hope that you will try to be a "Full Sender" in learning and preaching of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel on the earth today. I love you all SOSOSOSOSOSOSOSOSSOO MUCH and look forward to writing to you again next week!
Love ya!
Elder McMullin :)