Good bye February, hello March (and what will eventually bring spring like weather!) I'm not feeling sick anymore. I got my energy back thanks to some better sleep that really made all the world of a difference. I was able to focus during church and I wasn't as miserable during our many hours of tracting this week. On Sunday we had an entire investigator family come to church, this was super exciting but also an eye opening experience for me and the family. I also had a great experience learning about the Atonement this week. Other than this, we tracted a lot, we taught some lessons, and tomorrow we have Zone Conference with President Cutler and the Assistants.

Elder Reynolds preparing to put the Zone Leaders on hold. We are now officially Kenosha B Inc. And Elder Reynolds is my secretary. I'm such a busy boss; we put all people on hold. Except President Cutler, he's the real boss.

Our investigator family -- The father is from Africa. I forget the actual country that he was born in but I do remember that it was near Ethiopia. The mom is from Minnesota. They have three kids, the oldest is 9, then 7, and the youngest is 3. The family has been meeting with missionaries since before I got to Kenosha. I'm still trying to catch up on what they have been taught from the Elders in the past (poor record keeping). The parents want to get baptized but there are some legal issues that will need to be cleared up first. I'm grateful that it is nothing serious, both parents are very humble, and hard workers in their profession. Unfortunately, the soonest they can get baptized is October so I won't ever see them get baptized. Bummer! Our goal for right now is to baptize the 9 year old. He is a smart kid and loves football. Our first official lesson with him was on Saturday, and he will begin reading the children Book of Mormon. He and the 7 year old did really well during sacrament meeting. The 3 year old though, she has one crazy personality. She is full of spunk and energy. She is always talking back to her parents in the funniest of ways. She's not rude to them; she just likes to voice her opinion to her parents. The father told us, that if you tell her "no, you can't have that" She will reply, "Umm, we need to talk". During lessons she usually does alright. Once, Elder Reynolds pointed a laser pointer at her feet and she freaked out and booked it up the stairs because she was scared of the laser. It was super funny, now she thinks it’s a game to run away from the laser. The eye opening experience for both us and them on Sunday was more or less a culture shock. You could tell church was different for them. Elder Reynolds and I had taught them what goes on during service and the Elders in the past had done the same thing. But no matter how much preparation we could have given them I don't think it would have made a difference. The kids didn't know what to do with the sacrament, and the girl kept asking "when's it going to start". My learning opportunity from this was how different our services can be to those outside our faith. That first time walking in and seeing the building organized differently than other faiths, or seeing most people dressed in white shirts and ties with suits on and dresses for the woman. And the sacrament is passed to the congregation instead of everybody getting up and approaching the front of the chapel. Our service may be very different from their past experiences of Sunday worship at another church. We will get the family more comfortable with Sunday services.

No shortage of apple juice in Kenosha!

As for my Atonement study on Sunday morning; I'm not sure if I ever told you, but the whole mission did a Christmas study of the Book of Mormon starting in October and ending Christmas morning. We were to read 7 pages a day and highlight red and green only. Red highlights are things pertaining to the Atonement and the Christ-like attributes. Green highlights are how we can access the enabling power of the Atonement. Because of my district leader duties, I got behind on the reading and finally finished it mid-February rather than Christmas day. On Sunday morning I found a piece of paper that President Cutler had given the Green Bay Zone back in July 2013. President Cutler's first Zone conference, and mine as well. I had kept this paper in my quad all these months but never looked at it. On Sunday I remembered that the paper was about the Atonement, so I coupled it with my new Atonement Book of Mormon. I spent two hours reading every scripture that President Cutler had referenced. I cannot even begin to tell you all of the sub topics that President Cutler put on this paper, all of which are connected back to the Atonement. The short story is: The Atonement of our Lord and Savior is amazing. It is a wonderful gift from our Father in Heaven. It is peaceful, and wonderful, and amazing to know and understand the Atonement. I am forever grateful for the love that my Savior has shown me, I am grateful for his teachings, and example.

We have an Apostle coming to our mission on March 21st. We don't know who yet, but we are all very excited! I also found out from President Cutler today that I will be finishing my mission in Kenosha.

Scripture for the week: 3 Nephi 18:15-16

Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye must watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted by the devil, and ye be led away captive by him.
 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.

Thank you; enjoy the warm weather,

Love -- Elder Luymes

I didn't choose Kenosha thug life, it chose me!