Happy New Year!!

This week was a good one, have to email on Tuesday because of new years! I had a really fun and touching week.

Elder Boyer took the Stellas Food challenge yesterday, which is a 4 pound hamburger that is 36 inches tall. It was crazy, he almost finished too, but was disqualified because he threw up haha! We also got to walk around old market in downtown Omaha, it was a ton of fun! New years was fun too, we got to stay up until 10:30 if you can believe it! I finished off the year by reading the rest of Jesus The Christ! I was pretty excited about that! We also drank some sparkling cider to celebrate!  Overall I had a good time, and I am definitely enjoying my time as a missionary, things are going so fast for me! I can hardly believe it!

  So this week has been a blessing, yet one of the hardest yet. I learned this week of the love our Heavenly Father has for each of us. As you know, my friend  is struggling. Well this week in the hospital, he started do decrease very rapidly, and was admitted to hospice care. Well we went to see him one day, and he was hallucinating and it just wasn't a fun thing to see. The next day, we got a call from his sister,  he was dropping rapidly. So we went up again to see him. When I arrived I was brought to tears as I saw my best friend trembling with pain. He was unresponsive. He no longer eats or drinks, and he is suffering greatly. All we could really do was comfort the family. However the following moments proved to be the most spiritual and saddening moments of my life. Shortly , our bishop and one of his counselors came up to see him, and it was determined that he was to be given a blessing. I stood behind him and laid my hand on his head along with the 4 other men there. And bishop gave a blessing in which he released him from this life to meet his Heavenly Father...I did all I could to hold back my tears as I heard the rest of the blessing. After it was finished, I stepped into the hallway where I took a second to just cry and process what had happened. Luckily my companion came with me and put his arm around me. I can testify of the love Heavenly Father has for his children. HE LOVES YOU. HE LOVES ME. and HE LOVES ALL OF US. I felt it. and I cannot ever deny it.

As of now he is still alive, but not for too much longer according to the update I

just got. However, it will be soon, and I know that he will be in a much better condition. Death is just a necessary step in the Plan of Happiness that has been set for us. It is amazing to know that I will be seeing my friend again in a perfect condition. I am blessed to have this knowledge.  This memory and message is one of happiness though, my soul is very comforted to know what lies ahead for him. The Plan of Salvation is a real thing and I am so grateful for it! And I leave my testimony of this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.

Questions from Christmas:

1. Favorite Christmas present:  Sweaters, disc golf disc, pajama pants from Miranda. There are so many of them that I can't list them all!

2. Favorite Skype moments: Talking to my family and hearing how deep Clyde's voice was! Also talking to Zander and having Miranda read me her mission call!!

3. New Years Resolution: Not eat so much candy.....

4. Most memorable moment:  The exploding trash can that happened a couple weeks ago. (I'm not even gonna ask about that!)