Look who's going to the GAM!

Just got some fun news yesterday! Karter's cousin, Jadelin Cockrell, will be joining him in the GAM in March 2019. She enters the MTC in February. Sure hope they will be in the same district or something during that 6 months! How cool is that????

Family Finding

Well, a lot has happened but I am tired (LOL) so I probably will only write part of it!

Last Pday we played some pool in the ghetto REC center and did pretty well!! There's a bunch of bro's that play there on Mondays and are pretty intense!! It was a good time!!

Funny thing. The Sunday before Pday we were knocking late at night and hit a door where the person inside so "come back when it is light outside." The funny part of it is that the same guy who said that owns the ghetto REC center and came up to talk to us during pool! There are no coincidences!!

Anyway, this week has been a week of knocking!! I haven't spent a whole lot of time doing family ward missionary work because Campus has been open and we always find a lot of people on campus! But we really pushed and did our best this week finding a good 4 people!!!!! It was a good time!! At the beginning of the week while we are knocking I felt like I kinda lost my groove because it had been a few months since I had done it consistently but I found that as we rely on the Lord, in literally every aspect of our daily lives, especially when tracting; He will put words in our mouth to bring others closer to Jesus Christ!! :)

On Thanksgiving we had 3 dinners...so you can imagine that I put on some serious poundage this week!! HAHA!!! We actually brought a less active man to our 2nd dinner and we had our 3rd dinner with Gerald!! It was a great Thanksgiving!!

 

Message from Morgan Whipple (the member of their ward who sent this picture to me). "The missionaries came over tonight after finishing their day and helped us eat some leftover pie. we sure love them! They are such a good group and seem to be working hard (and playing hard)!

Saturday we had an exchange with the other Carrollton Elders so I went with Elder Ford!! We had a really great time!! We found a few really great people to teach from Spirit Tracting (which is amazing!! If there are any missionaries reading this then please please please start spirit tracting. The Lord truly does lead us to those people that are ready to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We just need to be in tune with those promptings by asking for them!!)

That same night we went to Longhorn Steakhouse (thanks dad, love ya)!! It was good to just sit and talk with Elder Ford about his life before the mish!! I know it really helped me when I just came out on the mish, hope it helped him as well!!

On Sunday we had a great Surprise! I was talking to a member when I got an arm around my shoulder! I was thinking it was Brother Knox or someone, but lo and behold....it was Mason and Catrina! I just sat there stunned, I thought was dreaming!! He explained to me during third hour about why he was there!!

He said that while he was working at "Way out Games" (escape rooms) when a coworker started talking to him about church! He asked Mason if he was a church goer and Mason replied yes. The coworker then asked which Church he thought was true. At that time Mason realized the testimony that he still had that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was the true Church!! He came home that night and told Catrina about his conversation! Catrina wasn't really happy about being there! It was so awesome to see Mason excited about the Gospel again, but sad to see Catrina on the opposite corner. He realizes now that if he wants his seed to grow he needs to nourish it in good ground, not in thorns and thistles. We will be meeting with them again this Wednesday!! The Lord is in control, he knows all and see's all!! 

Love yall!! Keep on Keeping on!!

Elder Northrup

 

Sunday Smiles from Sister Lester (in a round about way!)

 

Finna get Chilly

It was a great week...I won't go into too much detail because at this point in my mission, I almost don't care about emailing a mass email...almost.

It was a chill pday. Played some pong and cleaned a bit. 

On Tuesday we were able to do some Tabling on Campus. This was actually my first time and it was a blast. There were so many people to talk to and most people were actually willing through the cold icey rain that was pouring on us! 

Wednesday we rangled goats in the morning so that they could get some Reproductive work done. It was pretty interesting and not at the same time!! 

Thursday was a day of lots of finding, and a bit of teaching. While we were on campus we saw a girl named Hannah that goes to the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries Center). She invited us to come to an early Thanksgiving feast with a bunch of other people of faith. 95% of the people there were pretty accepting of us being there so that was awesome!! Usually we feel lucky if we get 10%! LOL

Friday and Saturday were days for finding finding finding!! There was a lot of stress from Zone Conference about finding people that are prepared to accept the Gospel, so thats what we are doing!!

Overall, it has been a great week!! There have been many ups, and a bit of downs, but in the end I look at it smiling. Thank you for the many prayers and thoughts yall have taken the time to send my way (along with all the missionaries around the globe). We really do need them!!

Love yall

Elder Northrup

YEET

Sister Sorsenson on Wednesday before driving back to Cali

Its been a fun and interesting time here in Carrollton!! Getting quite a bit colder here in Georgia, although I am much more prepared this winter than I was last!! 

On Monday we had a great Last Pday with half the Powder Springs Zone at a Bowling Place!! (Sneak Peak to Wednesday: transfers) We got the news on Wednesday that the boundaries for the Zone were changed so we got kicked out and got put into the Atlanta South Zone (previously known as the Fayetteville Zone). So that was pretty much the last time hanging out with all those peeps at once...kinda sad but guess its time to move on!!

OG Carrollton District

Tuesday was our last full day as a companionship so we made it our best!! We spent much of the day finding and teaching people, and got a lot of return appointments!! It was a great last day!!

Elders Isaksen, Northrup, Ford and Statham (Message from Sister Whipple) "We had all 4 elder missionaries over for dinner last night. Elder Isaksen and Elder Northrup were such a great companionship so I was sad when I heard everything got shaken up in the mission. But then we were so excited to see that they all were still in our ward! They will be great trainers and we are so happy to have Elder Northrup for a little while longer."

Wednesday was transfer day!! Like I said before, the boundaries for the zones changed so I now there are only 3 when there were 6....so we got kicked out of our Zone Leadership and into training 2 new missionaries here in Carrollton!! Elder Isaksen is training Elder Ford and I am training Elder Statham! It has been weird but fun the last few days!!

Elder Statham and I after the prank

We actually pulled one of the best pranks ever on the Green beans the night that they got here to Carrollton!! There is a member in the YSA that has an old cop car with all the lights and fun stuff on it. So he pulled us over, robbed us at gunpoint, and drove away. The green beans looked like they were going to wet themselves!! IT WAS SOOOOO FUNNY!!! They actually took the joke really well, they weren't mad at all so that was good!! HAHA

Myself in handcuffs (prank from Wednesday)

Thursday through Saturday was good with finding and teaching. It was weird being with a greenie again after almost a year of not...but it was cool! It will just take some time to get used to it after being with a bomb comp!! 

Anywhoo, 2duhLoo!! That was the week!!

I guess I better give an update on Mason and Catrina!! They ran into a lot of Anti so Elder Isaksen and I met with them on Wednesday night. They were pretty sad about everything, they were very distraught. We knew the only thing we could do is testify and invite!! We haven't been in contact with them for a good minute now, but I have faith that one day God will bring to remembrance the feelings and impressions they received while reading the Book of Mormon!! 

All that was pretty sad, but in the end I feel a lot of peace through the spirit knowing that it will all work out!! 

Have a great week!! Love yall

Elder Northrup

Lord of the Rings plaque a member of the ysa made for me (flippin dope)

GUCCI WEEK

It was a gucci week this week!! We had 4 exchanges this week, 3 of them in a row so we are a bit drained from that but its all good in the hood!! Last pday was a little rough because we blew out a good 100 miles in just 1 day!! So that was crazy!! But we had fun playing kickball and all that jazz!!

The same night we had dinner with one of my favorite families in the Ward, the Whipples!! Bro. Whipple reminds me of my dad, except with a full head of hair!! It was a great time!!

 

 

 "Happy Halloween! We have a tradition in our family to have "dinner in a pumpkin" the Monday before Halloween. This year we invited the elders to join us and had so much fun! These two are a great team! Their lessons are spirit-filled and awesome, but they also laugh a lot and have fun! We are grateful to have them in Carrollton! Elder Northrup probably said 5 times that night, regarding jokes my husband would make and things he'd say to my kids, "That is exactly something my dad would say!" And then laugh hysterically! You can tell he loves and misses his family back home." Message from Sister Whipple who sent the picture.

Tuesday we were up in Hiram for an exchange!! I was with Elder Hudson the man the myth the legend!! We had a great day of finding and teaching!! Hiram is a good place to be!!

Wednesday we had a few really good lessons!! Mason and Catrina met with us for a bit to discuss the Gospel of Jesus Christ!! It was a really good lesson, the spirit was there and a member actually saw us when he got out of class and sat in for a while!! 

Later that afternoon, Mason and Catrina drove us to an appointment that they had set up for us at a lady named Carla's house. Mason had given her a Book of Mormon and testified of it multiple times!! This time, while all 4 of us were there, we taught the Plan of Salvation to her! She really believed what we were saying and Catrina (of all people) even spoke up and testified of the Spirit World!! She has been super shy in the past so it was cool to see her break out of her comfort zone!! 

On Thursday I had the privilege of going on an exchange with one of my favorite Elders in the mission!! Elder Gilbert is the funniest dude alive, we had a great time doing the work!! Definitely hanging out with the bro when it comes time to go home!!

On Friday I had another great exchange with the one and only Elder Woolsten!! He is also a really funny bro so we had a fun time living it up in the ghetto of Douglasville!! There is a part of town that is called 'the other side of the tracks' (railroad tracks) that is super ghetto and we spent a lot of time over there!! Lots of fun and interesting experiences!! LOL

On Saturday I had another exchange with Elder Finley in Villa Rica!! I scored with exchanges this week, lots of really funny and hardworking Elders!! The same night we had a Stake Conference with a member of the Seventy, Elder Gillwaters!! He is a cool dude, learned a lot from him!

The only mentionable thing would be that Mason and Catrina are struggling with some stuff so we are meeting with them again on Wednesday! Please pray that they will have open hearts and that the spirit will enter into them!

Love y'all, 

Go fight win 

Elder Northrup

Physical Death and Spiritual Rebirth

It's been a hecka week!! Lots of good things, some not so fun things, and many spiritual things....

Last Pday we were able to play Bubble Soccer (If you don't know what that is, just look it up on Youtube, you will probably laugh your head off), it was so fun and so exhausting!! We are pretty sore and having bruises everywhere, but sooooo worth it!!

On Wednesday we had a good amount of Lessons on Campus!! I will mention just a couple of them briefly so that this doesn't turn into an essay...

We met with Luke Johnson in the morning! His brother actually joined the church about 6+ years earlier and went on a mission as well. I guess Luke saw how much Josh loved the Church and wanted to have some of that joy as well!! He is one of the only people that I have taught in the mission that is trying to find out if there is a God. I am glad that we are able to help him on this pursuit, this is just a first for me! :)

Another lesson was with Mason and Catrina again!! It went really well, everytime we meet with Catrina she becomes more and more open!! Mason is getting really excited, he just wants to be baptized already!! The same day we went over to a members house for dinner and Mason & Catrina came along as well! We all had a dandy time!!

On Thursday we had a lesson with Lay! Before the meeting we texted him to find out if he was still coming and he said, "ya, we are coming now." We immediately knew that the 'we' in his text meant that he was bringing his Church of Christ Preacher, so we decided to play dirty as well and bring Mason along with us (the last church that Mason attended was the Church of Christ) and he threw down hard!! It was pretty awesome!! Then afterwards we met with this girl named Autumn who had a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation!! As we were teaching, it was easy to see that Mason believed all the principles in the Plan as well, and he would teach them perfectly!! My comp and I just sat there dumbfounded. The man is the most Golden of all the Golden's!!!

Friday morning we got an unexpected call from our bishop. It was about 6:30am and he texted us saying that he needed to talk to us!! When we got on the phone with him he told us that the Senior Missionary, Elder Sorenson had passed away in his sleep that very night!! After we got off the phone, both of us sat there frozen for about an hour!! We were all very close to the Sorenson's, it was a real heartbreak! 

We went over to visit Sister Sorenson later in the day when she felt like she could have visitors. She had a few other visitors there as well; her brother, the sister missionaries and President Clayton! It was very interesting to see everyone's reaction, the gloomy faces and broken hearts, only to see Sister Sorenson smiling throughout all the conversations. She was still sad, and broke out in tears, but she also bore witness many times of the Plan of Happiness!! Towards the end of our time there our Mission President offered to give her a Priesthood Blessing. This was probably one of the most powerful blessings that I've ever witnessed. We were all in tears, but the Spirit of God was powerful and almost overwhelming!! I love Sister Sorenson with all my heart. Please keep her and her family in your prayers!!

On Saturday we had the opportunity to go to Jason Sun's baptism back in the Fayetteville Ward. I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and also talked about how it has been incredible to see Jason's progress from when we first met him at his door to see him enter the waters of Baptism!! I know that baptism is just the first stepping stone into a more devoted life, I am so happy for the man!!

{Bro Pugmire (Chinese Speaker) and Jason Sun (Jin Sun)}

The very next day we had a Baptism in our own area for Gerald Drolet! There was a large support group there for him, he really felt loved there that day! It was pretty funny, right before the service we asked Gerald to put his baptismal suit on......buuuuuuuuuut it was too small! It was pretty stressful trying to find pants that would be long enough, then he had to run back to his apartment to get his long sleeve white shirt!! It felt like a mess, but it worked out in the end!! 

(us, Gerald, Colin Merling) *Buzz Cuts in honor of Elder Sorenson

Overall its been a very interesting and spiritually enlightening week!! The New Testament Story of Nicodemus and Jesus comes to mind as I think about the experiences from this week!

John 3:4-5,14-16

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

14 ¶ And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

16 ¶ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

I know that because of Jesus Christ we can all live again! He suffered, he died, and he lived again that we through him can do the same!! I have a testimony of this! I know it and I Love it!! :)

GO FIGHT WIN!!

Love YALL

ELDER NORTHRUP

The Spirit of an Apostle

Its been a great week to be a Missionary for Jesus Christ :)

Last Pday we played Ping Pong for hours, I am finally getting pretty good at it. (You hear that daddio?? I'm going to finally beat you when I get home!!! {Not trunky I promise}) 

Tuesday we went to Ghetto Cedartown and did an exchange with the Elders there!! I went with Elder Kohler this time around, we had a great amount of success in finding and teaching! It was a great day!!

Wednesday we had a great District Council! We love having Elder Sorenson (Senior Missionary) be our District Leader, we learn a lot from his example!!

We met with Mason and Catrina to talk about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!! She is still very hesitant about joining the Church but Mason is all in! He testified to her that he knew the Book of Mormon was true, and that he knew that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter~Day Saints is the Church with Christ at the head!!

We had dinner at a Members house later in the evening, Mason and Catrina came as well!! It was great to have them hear other testimonies of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon as well!!

I also called Jason (from Fayetteville) because he is going to be Baptized this coming Saturday! He asked if I would give a talk on the Holy Ghost!! I am so excited!! Gerald is also going to be baptized this coming Sunday so it will be a very spiritual weekend!!

I'm not going to get super deep into the rest of the week! We had many miracles throughout the week through finding and teaching but it would take forever to list all of the them!! The main people that I would really ask yall to prayer for is; Jason, Gerald, Mason and Catrina!! Catrina is having a rough time right now, but we know that the power of Prayer is real!! Thank yall!!

Elder and Sister Costa

Elder and Sister Bednar

Now we will get to the meat of the email...

Yesterday we had the privilege of meeting with Elder and Sister Bednar, Elder and Sister Costa, Elder and Sister Alba for a Mission wide conference!! It was one of the most spiritual experiences of my life!!! At the beginning of the meeting he told us that he didn't want us to write down anything he said, but to write down what the spirit said! He said something along the lines of, "If all you are writing down is what the speaker is saying, you aren't really listening." I can honestly say that although Elder Bednar said some amazing things, the impressions and words that came from the Spirit were much more personal and were inviting! I can't explain it!! Many of the feelings and impressions I had are very personal so I won't go into too much detail about those, but I would like to share some thoughts and feelings! :)

At one point we were all discussing as a mission a question one of the missionaries had for Elder Bednar. It was basically, "how can I stay active when I get home from the mission?" Elder Bednar related an experience he had with returned missionaries. These RM's were struggling, many from Anti-Church literature, etc. He asked them if they were reading the Book of Mormon as much as they were reading the Anti, all of them said that they were not! 

The thought came to my mind that if all I do is reap darkness, how do I expect to keep the light? Elder Bednar described it like this...

"Imagine you are put into a very dark room with sharp objects scattered around, all of which would either cut you or impale you if you fell onto or into one of these objects. Now right before they close the door of this room, they throw you a flashlight so that you can avoid all of the sharp objects." He said, "reading anti instead of the Book of Mormon is like taking that flashlight that the people gave you and turning it off. But when you turn off the flashlight, don't be surprised if you get cut up, bruised, or even die from the objects." It was simple yet enlightening. We NEED the Book of Mormon!! Please hold fast to it!!

The Conference with Elder Bednar was very special! Not only because he is an Apostle of the Lord, but because of the Spirit that I felt there!! Before the conference I was so excited to tell everyone back home and throughout the world on missions that my favorite Apostle came to my mission. But then I realized that it goes much deeper than that!! I have a firm testimony that not only is Russell M. Nelson a Prophet called by God himself, but that the other 14 Men standing by his side are also Prophets, Seers and Revelators!!! I still feel the same spirit right now (a day later) after that meeting!! It was incredible!!!!!!

Thank you for all you do to help build the Kingdom of God here on the Earth!! 

I love yall!!

Elder Northrup