Dear Friends and Family,

We had some cool things happen this week. First, the investigator we found last Sunday is a stud. He read 32 pages of the Book of Mormon in 3 days! He also called us the Elders and called the church building the House of God. So pretty much, he'll get baptized in a little bit, which is cool because we haven't even taught the first lesson yet. Some unfortunate news though, K_____ doesn't feel ready to be baptized yet so she'll probably be a few weeks after her daughter, who is getting baptized the 8th! We are so pumped! Great things are happening in Umatilla!

So this week, I was reading in the D&C and came across a few really cool scriptures. I already had this one marked but I still love its imagery. Its D&C 88:63, "Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." I love to picture myself as I repent and come back to the Savior, who is waiting to receive me with open arms.        

The same can be applied to all of us. As we repent of our wrongdoings, we draw near to God. Luke 15:20 says, "But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran." God draws near to us, or rather, draws nearer to us as fast as possible. All we need to do is have the humility to repent, or turn to God, and ask for His forgiveness, He will forgive us. I bear testimony of the power of repentance and how God will change us if we but let Him. I love you all and hope you have a stellar week!

Love,
Elder Spencer Coleman

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a very...interesting week this week. Tuesday we found a solid new investigator, but the rest of the week was, to be honest, pretty terrible. We taught almost no lessons and walked for many many hours. Elder T_____ was very discouraged, because he is a fairly new missionary and it always happens. He was getting way discouraged, so I told him my "mission" scripture: the scripture I use to get me through discouraging times. "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6) I know that as we continued to act in faith, the Lord blessed us. We had daily contact with our investigators, which our leaders counsel us to do, and we worked super hard. Thursday night, I pleaded to the Lord to send us a miracle, so Elder T_____ could make it through this hard time. After I finished, I felt that we should fast. For those of you who don't know, I strongly dislike not eating, but I knew that fasting brings great miracles. So we talked about it, and we decided Sunday to fast, which is the first time I've decided to fast on my own.

We showed our faith by working hard and fasting. The Lord blessed us immensely. It was probably one of the best days of my mission. We were at church and we were talking with K______. Background: she wants to be baptized with her 11 year old, T_____, but her husband said no and she smokes. This has been happening for months. She told us that she talked with her husband about baptism again, and he said yes for them to get baptized!!!!! We were so excited! She also told us that she hadn't smoked in 4 days which is a miracle in itself! March 8!!! Oh Yeah! That would have been a miracle enough for me...but it gets better. We found a new investigator and then put F_____ on date to be baptized March 22! We were super bold and testified of the restoration of the priesthood. He now knows the Book of Mormon is true and is overcoming his obstacles. So again, I testify that if we hold out faithful, the Lord WILL bless us with miracles we can't even imagine. Overall, this week was amazing! I'm so grateful to serve a mission! Those of you who are struggling: don't give up. Trust in the Lord, and He will show you His power. I love you all and thank you so much for the many prayers said on my behalf!

Love, 

Elder Spencer Coleman

Feb. 10, 2014

Well...we got 9 inches of snow and being from Georgia, that was a lot. So, we spent our week trudging through the snow, tracting, and talking in British accents! Elder T____ and I have been passing the time by speaking in British, Warshingtonian, Batman and Joker, Russian, Italian, Indian, German, and Australian accents. Its pretty entertaining, but it goes to show that if you go on a mission to have the funnest time of your life (or to learn proper grammer and spelling), you will be sorely disappointed. We had a few lessons, and they were all spiritually uplifting. Well, I'm kinda reaching a point where much is the same and I don't really know what to talk about.

Being positive is the key to these kind of situations though. For me, being positive is an attitude of being grateful. We had a really hard day this week. We had 4 appointments fall through. And so we tracted for hours in the deep snow. We were pretty downtrodden. In my evening prayers, I knew that to be happy, I needed to be more grateful, so I told God many things, big and small, that I was grateful for. I'm grateful for a wonderful companion, I'm grateful to serve a mission, I'm grateful that we weren't hit by a car, didn't slipped on the ice, and weren't impaled by an icicle. As I listed things, I became more happy with the wonderful life I really do have. I know that as we are grateful, we will see that God has blessed us with so much. I love you all and hope you have a great, hopefully warm, week!

Love,
Elder Spencer Coleman

Dear friends and family,

I made it safely to Umatilla. Just a forethought, I pictured a mission being this: walking many miles with no car, living in an apartment, teaching in the Ghetto, and loving it. Umatilla is the dream I dreamed. Its pretty great here! We are teaching a lot of people and a lot of them actually have a testimony of the Church! Mind blown!

This week was really great though. I said farewell to Selah and while I was being transfered, I ran into Elder F_____, now a zone leader in Kennewick. He told me that L______'s daughter just got baptized!!! For those of you who don't remember who that is, we tracted into L_____ in like April I think and reactivated her and it was sweet! Her daughter, who had no belief in God while I was there, was the one baptized. It was a testimony to me that while we may not always see the fruits of our labors (in this case I got to here about it) good things always come.

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:15-16)

We should all be looking for missionary opportunities. I know that as we "Ask the Father in [His] name in faith, believing that you shall receive," that "you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men." (D&C 18:18) Ask Him, and He will answer. I testify of the joys of being in the Lord's service. I know that He lives, and died so that we may return to live with God again. I love you all and hope that you will see opportunities to share the good word Halleluiah!!!

Love,

Elder Spencer Coleman