"I'm looking forward to Christmas"

Dear Family and Friends,

Well its sooo good to write to you all this fine Pday. We didn't really have a super exciting week but we are coordinating a baptism for today which will be our third for this month. the Lord has really blessed us this month. But after today we will officially have no more investigators... soo FINDING YEAH! Danny pham got confirmed yesterday and i wasnt able to attend but elder ehath was their. i was in another ward as our mission president decided to speak at one of our wards and meet with our stake president. I really Love both my stake president and especially my mission president. they are both men are amazing Love and kindness. they are people that i just want to be around and learn from. i have no idea what they talked about but im sure it was how to increase member support in the stake.

Well just as an idea i wanted to see where the stake is with missionary work and i created a servey for people to take. and i tested it in a ward  yesterday and got all the data and create a chart then i heard i may not have been allowed to do that... oh well no one told me not to. Anyways i have some data and i shows exactly what i thought. People know they have a responsibility to share the gospel they know it will help others but they don't know anyone who could receive the gospel and they are not comfortable sharing the gospel. Which im sure none of you who im writing too are too scared to share what makes your life soo amazing with other people.

We have transfers tomorrow... soo we will find out what will happen. Everyone in the stake keeps asking me if im getting transfered soon. apparently ive been here too long for them haha. actually a lot of people know us and have told us they didnt know the missionaries before. i can see the wisdom of keeping people in an area for a long time. i am grateful i could serve in this stake for soo long. im looking forward to christmas! cant wait to skype and see many of you.
Love elder Salmon

"I'm getting good at driving in the snow"

Dear Family and friends,

I may sound weird but i am not that excited for this holiday season. i mean what are the greatest joys of having snow, no school, Christmas lights, a fire, giving presents and all the food that goes along with this season? its really none of that. those individually don't bring all that much joy. It was for me the company that i got to enjoy all those with. i think this Christmas is harder for me than last. But this one means so much more to me. I feel that i have come to understand my savior much more because of being able to participate in this great work. It is a great time of the year to be able to celebrate his birth. It is a time of good news and of hope. I wish that this year many people will come to the understanding of the gospel.

Elder Heath and i had a great week. we got 2 people prepared and baptized last Saturday. it was a very special day. and i see the Lords work in all of it. Danny Pham's baptism was especially spiritual. he was so excited and ready for it. We had quite a few people including a member of the stake presidency who actually sang at it. He is bummed because he cant be confirmed until this Sunday due to a special stake conference. He will be a strong member of the church. in total we knew him for 20 days and he got baptized.

Then Lilly wiggins got baptized. previously she was afraid of the water. i am a little worried about her because her parents are supportive but neither are active. her grandparents live next door but they themselves aren't that active. they were not happy when i said that she needed to be confirmed in church. But they cant do it because of other things until the 22nd and so i see the lord work in getting the whole family once again to church. I talked it over with the bishop and we both agreed not to ask for an exception to the rule of getting a convert confirmed at the font. it will show an extra level of commitment from the parents and the grandparents.

But this weekend was a lot of fun. Tons of Christmas parties. But the best part was the special stake conference! we have 3 general authorities in attendance for a young married Fireside saturday night (which i still attended because it was at my stake conference). Elder Ballard was in attendance along with Bishop Causse, and Elder Sean Bowen of the seventy presidency. I didnt go up and meet them but i was very close to them. i really enjoyed that night. talked a lot about accountability and choices. Calling out the men with pornography and Elder Ballard told them basically addictions are not addictions. they are choices everytime that we as individuals give in to them. then he blessed everyone with an apostolic blessing with the ability to choose the right decision. Saturday morning we had stake conference and Bishop Causse was presiding. i did get to meet him and talked for quite a while with him and his wife. Over all it was great.

Now what is funny is Elder Rasband who spoke in the devotional was supposed to come instead of elder bowen but we heard he was "sick" so seeing him in the devotional was kinda funny. Didnt look sick to me. not that im complaining. Elder Ballard made a joke about it. Apparently the stake conference and everything was his idea and he didnt even show up.

Well i am doing great. i am happy. and im getting good at driving in the snow. haha with no hills getting around is easy. i dont know why people in utah even get into accidents when it snows.

Love Elder Salmon

"I'm happy and I love this work"

Dear Family and Friends,

Well we had an eventful week. It was a lot of fun and very exciting and also a little stressful. we had some problems in the district that the zone leaders and i had to clear up. a lot of the missionaries are struggling with one thing or another and we just showed our love and support for them and assured them that they are doing what the lord wants them to do. It was a very humbling expereince for me because each of them took place in the form of an interview which started witha  prayer and ended with us giving them a blessing. before going there i can remember just prayer and pleading with the Lord as to what he would have me say and do. and i was really looking for the love i should have for them. i knew if i didn't love them that i wouldnt be able to help them. i wouldnt say that i had the exact words put into my mouth but between the 3 of us we were really able to help each of them out. i never thought i would feel the spirit really strong in that meeting but it was just as strong there as any lesson ive been in. Probably because we were all bearing testimony and sharing scriptures. A very cool experience that i will always remember.

This week i went to dinner and we had Elk Stake! oh man they were good. i recommend them. and we also had rib and other great food. Man thanksgiving though was rough. 4 dinners and 2 dessert houses. i was ready to puke. but i found 1 great item in each house. If i had to combine all the house it would ahve been a great thanksgiving dinner. it was wierd a lot of people took pictures of us. 

So this week was great! we have 3 people on date! yes! for this weekend and next week. s it will be soo much fun geting them baptized. we have a lot of steps and its always a rusha dn super stressful. Danny pham is looking great. he was all excited about livig the commandments and said that keeping each of them should be really easy. his faith was surprising and we had a good laugh.

lily wiggins is all ready for her baptism and the bishop clear Matt lichtie to baptized his daughter. which was very surprising. Sot hose 3 look very solid for this month. we just need to find a few more people to try to get a bpatism on christmas. 

Things are looking up. im happy and i love this work. Merry christmas everybody. 
Love Elder Salmon