This week went by really fast! This week we got to go to the temple, and that was awesome. Probably the highlight of this week was the Zone meeting we had. We learned about Hope. That was super awesome. I used to think that hope was something that was not exactly true, or achievable. But I learned that that was false! Hope is a surety, an anchor, a confident expectation of true principles. I never thought of it that way. Also, without hope, we cant have faith! We need both!

 I also read Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk about the Parable of the Sower. Here is one of my favorite parts: "What causes hearers to “have no root in themselves”?This is the circumstance of new members who are merely converted to the missionaries or to the many attractive characteristics of the Church or to the many great fruits of Church membership. Not being rooted in the word, they can be scorched and wither away when opposition arises. But even those raised in the Church—long-term members—can slip into a condition where they have no root in themselves. I have known some of these—members without firm and lasting conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we are not rooted in the teachings of the gospel and regular in its practices, anyone of us can develop a stony heart, which is stony ground for spiritual seeds.

Spiritual food is necessary for spiritual survival,especially in a world that is moving away from belief in God and the absolutes of right and wrong. In an age dominated by the Internet, which magnifies messages that menace faith, we must increase our exposure to spiritual truth in order to strengthen our faith and stay rooted in the gospel.

Young people, if that teaching seems too general, here is a specific example. If the emblems of the sacrament are being passed and you are texting or whispering or playing video games or doing anything else to deny yourself essential spiritual food, you are severing your spiritual roots and moving yourself toward stony ground. You are making yourself vulnerable to withering away when you encounter tribulation like isolation, intimidation, or ridicule. And that applies to adults also." I really like this, because there are so many people who don't have those gospel roots, and we need those! I also like the part where he rebukes the young people for not being reverent during sacrament. I encourage you guys to read that talk again.

Also, this past week, I had the chance to give one of the recent converts a blessing. It was awesome. Afterward I shared my testimony about the priesthood blessings. I shared the experience I had with my head, and how Spencers grandpa gave me a blessing. That was a really awesome experience. I know the priesthood works! Humility and meekness and faith. I really like you experience dad, that is cool. I just found out one of the little girls we were teaching in Quincy got baptized on the 16th of May. I got to teach a few lessons to her as well, and that was cool. 

 
Anyways, I love you guys, thanks for everything that you do! You guys are awesome. And, would you guys send me some pictures of the house, like how the yard in the front and back look? I am just curious. And here is some pictures of some cool sunsets! Ok I love you guys, by!