I'm Lov'in it

Sunglasses at night. cuz why not

Not a whole lot has happened throughout this week, so I will just quickly run through it!!

Monday: We met with a girl named Chas who is super cool. It was our first lesson with her and she seemed to be a super social person. Most people take quite a while to open up, so its kinda hard to teach to their needs. But she was open from the start, so we immediately knew that she needed the Plan of Salvation. She just latched onto everything that we said so quickly, it was awesome to see.

Tuesday: Campus was dead throughout the whole week but there were High School graduations going on at the school so we got to talk to some pretty nice families. The same night we had a bomb District Council about avoiding comparisons.

Wednesday: We talked about and read the Book of Mormon over the phone with Sam Steiner. He really loved the Vision of the Tree of Life and is progressing really well.

The same night we met with a guy who is an athiest and taught her about the Plan of Salvation. It was really cool because we had Daniel Deluzio as our teamup (x-athiest) so the lesson was super powerful. We gave Daniel as many opportunities to talk as possible so that he could relate with Artur.

Thursday: Not a whole lot happened. We tried finding for the most part of the day but we didn't find anyone. We went to cottage meeting where the Sisters taught the Restoration in a role play. They did baller.

Friday: WE FINALLY FOUND SOMEBODY!!!!! YEEEEEET!!!!! Her name is Alicia! It was cool because we had prayed not even two minutes earlier to find somebody, because he hadn't throughout the whole week. We taught her part of the Plan of Salvation. We are so blessed by the Lord.

Around Lunchtime we met with Chris Baxter and taught him the commandments with John Bower, one of the YSA's. We had a really great conversation with him and invited him to be baptized. He said that he would definitely like to as he continues to learn more about the Church. He is such a good man!

I was looking at the Calendar today tracking when the next transfers is and it literally made me cry. I've loved my mission here in Georgia. I have been humbled to the dust and I feel like I am gaining somewhat of an understanding about the Pure Love of Christ. I have come to understand that this is truly the most important attribute that we can attain in this life. As Mormon puts it...

Moroni 7:45 And charity suffereth long (Patience), and is kind, and envieth not (Humility and Meekness), and is not puffed up(H & M), seeketh not her own (H & M), is not easily provoked (H & M), thinketh no evil (Virtue), and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth (Virtue), beareth all things (Patience), believeth all things (Faith), hopeth all things (Hope), endureth all things. (Patience, Diligence, Knowledge, etc.)

I have come to love my mission and love these people because of the Pure Love of Christ. I am so grateful for the Lord enabling me to be on my mission. 

Longhorn w/ Daniel Deluzio - thanks dad!

Elder Isaksen found my fridge in Centerville

The Hick House (missionary apt in the boonies)

Every Truck in Georgia

A Short Two Years

Well, its been quite the week again. Its been pretty slow to say the least because most everyone is not on campus anymore so its really hard to find and teach anyone. But even in the midst of all this we were still able to see many wonderful miracles manifest by the Lord. I won't mention all of them but here is a list of the people that we met that could use some prayers in their life :)

Christiyana

Jaja

Jerry

Jocelyn

Kirby

Artur

Desmond

The first miracle to mention is about Jocelyn. We were sitting on a bench by a green field in the middle of the campus when we called out to her while she was passing by. At first, we had a casual conversation about life and her interests but it slowly moved into teaching her about the Plan of Salvation, more specifically the Premortal Life. While we taught her she began to cry. Then she let out everything that she was currently going through with troubling siblings and family coupled with the stress of school and bills. It was a great comfort for her to know more about God's plan. Please keep her in your prayers. 

The second was with a guy named Jerry. On Friday we were wrapping up the day with calls to past people that we were teaching and then we started towards our apartment. When we got up to leave, so did a guy named Jerry. He pretty much walked right up to us, so of course we had to talk to him. We ended up having an hour and a half conversation with the bro. It was mostly about Cars, History, Star Wars, and then finally the Gospel. It was pretty cool because he got to see the real true Elder Northrup and Elder Tuitavake and I think that helped him to trust us more. So when we began to tell him about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon he was a whole lot more open. It was pretty cool. Even if he doesn't really progress any further it really opened my eyes that we can be a missionary without just talking about the Gospel, because eventually they will begin to ask the golden questions.

It was a great week. I am so grateful for the people here at KSU, my companion who is a stud and a fantastic missionary, and of course the Lord. This Gospel means everything to me, I love sharing it every single day. I know that the Lord has truly blessed us at these times and it is such a privilege to be here in the best mission ever. 

I had 18 years to prepare for it. I have an eternity to look back on it. And I have only two years to really live it. What a blessing. 

Love yall

Elder Northrup

Spring Semester to May-mester

Its been quite the week. We've had a whole lot of time on our hands because of the ending of the school year for KSU. Luckily the May Semester is supposed to start this Monday so we wont be totally out of stuff to do! 

For a short walk through the week...

Monday was the last day of the Semester so we actually met some pretty cool people. For FHE we played a game called 'Cracker Whacker' (don't take that out of context). Its pretty much a Battle Royale game with Foam Pool Noodles for swords, so you can imagine how hard you have to hit!

Tuesday was absolutely dead on Campus. So we helped the Sisters make a Restoration video to post on Facebook. Then we were invited to go play some Ultimate by a good group of our 'not down' friends. They would've definitely been the crew that I would've hung out with if I wasn't on the mission, I just wish they would accept the truth. Sometime soon though.

Wednesday was Zone Conference day. It was actually really good because it was all about not seeing the people we teach as numbers. It was a good change from all the previous trainings which felt like being raked over live coals!! HAHA

Thursday was a pretty good day for whatever reason. Everybody was super sweet with the Birthday wishes and thoughtful notes. 

Friday was a bit different. Because Campus was completely dead, we were told by our Branch Mission Leader to go down to the Marietta Square to Proselyte for YSA's. It took hecka long time because we don't have a car and my comp doesn't have a bike. But while we were there it was actually a good time. We saw Elder Alba's (Seventy) son on the Square and talked to him for a bit, which actually turned into a big mix up with our Mission President. 

After we got back to Campus from the Square we got a call from President Clayton asking if we went out of the mission to go to the Marietta Square. I guess Elder Alba's son thought we were being apostate and didn't realize that he was actually in our mission rather than the opposite. But it was all good, we got it resolved. 

And that brings us to the now. 

I am very grateful to be here in the G.A.M. (Greatest of All-time Mission/Georgia Atlanta Mission). I've been realizing that the time is short at hand and I am nearing the end. It has been such a privilege being a missionary for the last 20 months. I wish I could do this full time for the rest of my life.......if I could sleep in a bit longer and see my family often. But I know that this is just another stepping stone into the eternities, I am excited to see the rest of this journey!!

Love yall

Elder Northrup

May the 4th be with you...ALWAYS!!!

Legit, this week was pretty good but hard at the same time...It is finals here at KSU so its hard to find people that are receptive, but we still saw a whole lot of miracles. 

We met with Christian this week. We talked to him about the Temple and the ordinance of Baptism. He finally began to understand that baptism is necessary for the Plan of Salvation to work, so he agreed to be baptized on June 1st. We are really excited for him and we are very grateful to the Lord for blessing us so much. 

All of our campus friends are going back home for Summer so it was pretty sad to say goodbye to all of them, especially all of the Ultimate players. 

And as for today, it is one of the best days of the year for me. One of the recent converts named Daniel watched Star Wars in his dorm and I was sooooooo tempted to be a pile, but I didn't. It was really hard though. 

Overall, everything is going great. I have come to understand a whole lot on my mission, and it is crazy to think that it is getting close to being over. I have loved being here in Georgia, I love the people here. I love the gospel especially. I would invite anyone who is reading this email to reflect in their prayers tonight and ask "what lack I yet." I know that you will have an almost immediate answer to that prayer, the Lord is anxious to refine us. 

Love yall

Go Fight Win!!

Elder Northrup