"We had a pretty cool week"

Dear family and friends,

Man so we had a pretty cool week. Second week of the transfer. im really starting to get the hang of this area and where everyone lives and kinda who everyone is. And its fun because from the get go in the stake i had a high expectation of what the work should be here and im finally seeing some changes. Ward mission leaders got changed out and more ward missionaries were called, ward councils are looking a lot better, and the focus is more on missionary work in this stake when previously there wasnt much support. We are still just teaching 3 investigators but it looks a lot better because we actually have potentials and we have lesson set up with a bunch of member families and we are testing a new way of asking for referrals. its not super new but i have found that if we actually share a really good lesson or bring the spirit strong and then ask who we can share the gospel with more names are brought up.

So we are really struggling with how to teach scott walker the kid that got adopted from china. i wanted to get direction and i called the mission president and explained the situation he made a few phone calls and we are going twice a week to temple square to teach scott the gospel with the sisters there that speak mandrin. they will most likely have the gift of tongues and they will also have pictures and the spirit will be strong there. So this will be a lot of fun for me becuse i love temple square.

Bud didnt come to church. he had some family problems but we're not giving up on him yet. he could take some time because he has to quit smoking and he hasnt come to church yet. But i just cant help but think he needs this and if we do all we can he will accept it. Zack came to church and so far he is progressing nicely towards baptism and nothing has really come up to stop him from being baptized. the mom hasnt bought him his coffee ice cream so i think hes off of it. not that he was addicted to it. i think he just really likes the taste of the coffee.

Today we are going mountain biking. a bishop wanted to take us and so i thought why not. the whole district is coming and it will help us build district unity.

Well glad to hear lifes going well out there. Take care and share the gospel!

Love Elder Salmon

"And it's working like a charm"

Dear family and friends,

Well i know you guys have been all worried about transfers and you were just waiting on the edge of your seat to hear from me. Well i am staying in south jordan and im still district leader. not a big surprise. But i am training Again!!! Elder heath is my new companion he hails from lompoc. i call it lamp post. So not mch happened here for me. but i was really really really surprised that i was training again. i thought i was dont with that. but nooo they decided to leave me there doing it one more time. We got 34 new missionaries and 11 visa waiters. we are kinda upto 255 missionaries until the visa waiters leave. its pretty crazy. the brethren are right. our mission has lost a lot of experience and the missionaries have to rely on the spirit a lot more. Elder heath is very good. We got really lucky(probably more like divine intervention) and picked up 3 new investigators so he got to put all 3 on date and he is getting a lot of experience. there is nothing like teaching a real investigator to help you learn how to teach. With being district leader he will have to learn quick because i will have to leave him leading the area when i go on exchanges. but i trust he will do fine.

We picked up this guy named Roy "Bud" Hancock. hes pretty cool. He calls me boss, wear a cowboy hat with a handle bar mustache and he has tattoos all up his arm. But he was very receptive to the spirit. i could tell he really was an honest seeker of truth. The WML was really surprised when we invited him to be baptized in the first lesson and he excepted. haha Also we picked up scott walker the adopted kid from china we have a mandarin translator and he was barely able to communicate but he was taught who god is and we taught him to pray. it was a really strong lesson spiritually. The last was a young man who lives with his parents who are active members of the church but previously his father didnt want to give permission for him to be baptized. he recently gave permission for the daughter and now we are going to get permission for him. He is very very smart. much smarter than a lot of other investigators ive taught. he needs a little more that just the milk we usually give to others.

So WE have really been changing what we have been doing to find. We bike more and we are having a really BCS lesson with members and getting out quickly. We teach a little about the doctrine of Christ share a video From the World wide broadcast and get out. it has been way more effective. we are getting better quality referrals. And most of them have been with families whos son or daughter is out or is about to leave. And it is working like a charm. Wow sounds like a lot of changes are happening at home.  A new nephew would be awesome! i think you should call him Scott James Mckeon. solid strong name. haha Well life is good. i am doing really well. orthodontist appointment is next monday. the only thing is my arm is bugging me. the one i throw with. and im not sure what is is. But ill give it a rest. im really not worried mom so im not going to the doctors. its probably because i was throwing last week and i didnt warm up. my arm just isnt what it use to be after baseball.

Well i hope all is well. Love Elder Salmon

"See you all in a year"

Dear family and Friends,

It is already august. i dont know how this happened. its pretty scary that the summer is almost over. i prefer to do missionary work during the warmer months than during the snow... but i guess if i dont mess up or anything it sounds like i might be in leadership until i die... :( atleast ill have a car during the snow months. Well the sisters had a baptism this last saturday! i was so happy. they were struggling a bit and i was doing my very best to help them. but they did the miracle. this guy was being taught for a long time and i wanted him dropped by they showed him that this is for them and he got dunked.

Well this past week was alright. i ran into a member that is working on the Ipads for us missionaries. i gave him a bunch of ideas he had never thought about that would help us out. i think he really enjoyed my ideas because i showed him where we really need the ipads and what we would really like them to be able to do. And i was trying to convince him we need it more in utah because we have so many wards. I dont think it worked. i have no idea when we will get the stuff.

Hmm not much happened this week. Robin pushed her date back so it is now Thursday. But i guess this last week we were doing our best to find. this week hopefully we should pick up two new investigators... i am praying. still looking for a translator and trying to get a hold of this guy named bob. and every time i talk with him he calls me "boss" and i think hes drunk. so this could be really exciting.

In one of the wards here the bishop called a special meeting to start a ward fast. we were present and it was very spiritual. hopefully we will be rewarded by our efforts. I dont know if i told her much about the area im in but its right next to the temple and the developments are all pretty new. so its pretty wealthy area and it is very hard getting people to open there doors and talk to us. i went tracting on Saturday and had 5 doors in a row slam on me. never had that happen before. its all good. Life goes on and ill keep testifying and i cant make them choose.

Well not much happened this week. we have transfers next week and i think we might get 35 new missionaries... which is a ton. I hope everyone is doing well. See you all in a year. haha.

Love you Bye.

Elder Salmon

"We are learning a lot about how to find and relying on the Lord"

Dear Family and Friends,

First off i would like to put a shout out To my dear friends Tanner and rachel (soon to be) Paxman. I hope your wedding goes without problems and that you will ahve a long prosperous life as you journey into the unknown relying on faith on christ to help you through this mortal world as you start your knew family together. May you live an eternal marriage here on this earth. My only advice to you Tanner is Love deeper, and to you rachel respect him. i know that you two will be happy together. i Love you both. wish i could be there physically but my heart goes out to you.

I hope dad has fun on his 50 miler! he will be fine. i remember bishop johns went on a 50 with us and he went really slow but he always made it and he had a great time. a great example of determination. im sure dad will be fine. i really want to go on another 50 miler! i think i would love it. i miss those days of hiking and camping by the lake. so relaxing.

guess what mom i know that the moultens were going there before you and dad knew! haha i met sister moultens sister here in my ward and she called when i was at her house. so i was one of the first ones to find out. there are a lot of connections here. i also met Parker mayberry's biological sister. i cant remember how i found out she was his sister but they went on facebook and found pictures of me on his facebook! haha so it was true.

This last week was actually a lot of fun. we had a competition with the zone leaders who could talk to the most people in an hour. i took them up on it and we beat them. We went to a pow wow that was happening at the park near us and talked to a ton of lamanites! haha and i got to enjoy the cultural dancing. i kinda lucked out that because i couldnt finda anyone. and today i got in a suit and took care of a bee hive.

On the other side we just got a referral for a boy coming from china. he is getting adopted and he needs the gospel. his family is active but the boy only speaks a little mandrin and is fluent in techwea which i have no idea how we are actually going to teach him. but im going to have fun with it. A member of another tribe and no where else would i get to gather from all lost 10 tribes utah is the best for that. And this next sunday is the baptism. Robin wimmer is getting baptized and it is the first investigator that elder lila was a part of from the beginning to the end. so i know how cool this first baptism will be for him. and i really love them both. richard and robin are a great couple funny and great to be around. i hope they dedicate themselves to the gospel because then they will be truely happy. He will get to baptize her on sunday! im glad he wasnt breaking any commandments! haha.

Well the work is going. still very slow here but we are learning a lot about how to find and relying on the lord. he is bringing people to us to teach. Which is probably what he wanted us to learn. his hand is in everything and it is only relying on him that we are even able to find people.

with love Elder Salmon

P.S. mom i could use shoe polish. and when does lexi leave? has she left already? and i want to write a letter to amanda newton! i need an address or email.