Hmm what to say about this week... We had transfers this last week, and we only had 5 missionaries come in this last time, all Elders too. That hasnt happened in a LONG TIME!! But it was a good transfers it was a really small one. And it was kinda sad... On MLC we had like 9 of the other Elders that came out with us on in that group but after this transfer 5 of them all got the boot... It was kinda sad. Oh and it was kinda sad that President and Sister Topham left it actually really was weird! It was actually really funny and really cool, cause i have been afraid that i would not be able to love the Johnsons as much as the Tophams so i have been praying a lot the past little while to be able to love them and serve them as faithfully as i had the Tophams. Like on Saturday we were sitting there trying to decide when to call the Johnsons and we still had the number for the mission pres as pres Topham, and we could not get ourselves to change it! We couldnt erase their names so we left it. That night we went and met with the Johnsons and man it was one of the coolest experiences on my mission! We got to their place a little before they did and so i sat there all sorts of nervous! My heart was pounding! But the moment they walked through the door i was just overcome with so much love and comfort! I love these people! They are some of the nicest people i think i might have ever met!! It was awesome! Prayers are answered! 

Anyways we actually got to work in our area!! We almost got ourselves a new investigator! We met him set a return appointment! So we went there saw some one pull in the drive way to the house so we knew people were there and we got all sorts of excited!! We knock on the door and no one answered.... ;) the day in the life of missionary work. Oddly enough i came to find out that i missed that whole scenario a lot! Ha Elder Shields and i walked away from the door and looked at each other and just smiled! We were normal missionaries again ;) for a moment. 

This week we get to travel the mission again! Pres Johnson is going around and doing like a meet and greet thing with all the missionaries! And he asked us to come with him so he could ask us tons of questions and learn more about the mission and sorts so it will be fun. I really do enjoy my calling i know i have been complaining a lot about it but i really do enjoy some parts of it ;). I LOVE seeing all the missionaries, i really have come to love all the missionaries in the mission! That has been a fun experience just getting to know a lot of them and just getting to love them all! So I am sorry that i have been complaining. If it werent for this calling i wouldnt have been able to meet some of the great people here in the ward and become such good friends with the ward members here! 

But there isnt a lot to report on for this week! But i am super glad that you all are doing so good! I am super glad that you all are living up the summer! I hope that you all know how much i love you! I am always praying for all of you!

Elder Dennison 

This week was pretty busy just tons of stuff to do in the office it really was a boring week, like there are no pictures to send there are no funny stories to tell except for one and this is a story of how my companion tried to kill us both... Its a good one ;).

Well today i get to go pick up new missionaries there are only 5 coming in which is totally different from the 15 to 20 that usually come in... So this one should be fun ;). This whole week has been strange the Tophams took us out to dinner for the last time on Thursday and we went to this place called Pasta Too... That place is amazing!! The plates of pasta that they bring out to ya are HUGE!!! Like i really cant even eat half of it! But its really good :). All week we have been working on Transfer stuff and all that jazz.... Its actually really boring stuff, if there is ever a missionary that aspires to be an AP i will probably just punch them in the face cause they dont know what they are aspiring to ;) haha. Nah i really do love being here and serving and being able to be apart of it all, but i just cant wait to be a normal missionary again! This area only adds extra stress to the already stressful day, or at least that is how it has been this last transfer! I am really hoping that this next transfer where we have like almost nothing planned will be better! :)

So i guess i will tell ya the story of how Elder Shields tried to kill us... Ha it was saturday night and all day we had been working on Logistics for Transfers and it was just the longest day ever! Ha its Elder Shields first time doing them and he has the East side of the mission, which is like a billion times harder than mine is. And the way we have been doing them is i work on my side and he works on his side. So i have no idea how to do logistics for his side, cause he has like a whole other transfer meeting in Harrisburg and he has to help plan for the Pittsburgh transfer meeting, so i really have no idea how to work his side. But it was taking him forever and we started on Friday and he finished just this morning haha so i think he is starting to understand it all. I guess it doesnt help the President made changes 2 or 3 times a day as we were doing logistics ;). Anyways back to the story cause i know you are all dying to hear of how i almost died. So Saturday night we get done with a long day of Logistics and we come home and we have to call people still to let them know they are getting the boot, and then we realize that we have Ward Correlation in the morning so that meant either we wake up early or take super short showers that night cause it was already close to bed time. So he lets me get in the shower first.... bad mistake ;) Ha i might have taken a little longer then a short shower. So while i was in there he started to boil some eggs for in the morning. But they were taking forever to boil! So i got out and it was pretty much bed time so he decided to just wake up early so he goes and checks the eggs, they still havent boiled. So we say our prayers, the eggs still havent boiled. So he sets an alarm to wake him up in like 20 mins, so we both lay down and i am out! The next thing i remember is waking up and the light to the kitchen is on and there is smoke covering the apartment!! We fell asleep at like 1045, so i look over at the clock and it is almost 1!! The alarm didnt go off!! And none of out other alarms go off either like the smoke detector or the co2 detector!! Luckily Elder Shields was already up putting out the fire and all that jazz!! We were up until like 230 working on getting the smoke out of our place!! And we couldnt get it all out so we decided that we would open up the screen door on our porch and lay on the floor in front of that. It was crazy!! Ha worst night on my mission! Now the whole stinking apartment stinks to high heaven!! Ah man i am never eating an egg again ;).

Yup so that pretty much sums up the fun we had for this week.... ;) Ha nah it very weird to think about the past little while just with this calling, of how much i have grown and i think have become more responsible, and mom check it, more organized... Bet ya didnt think that would ever happen huh? ;) But it been interesting, i have grown so much but at the same time i have felt like this has been the most stressful time of my mission. There is so much i have to remember, there are so many emails i have to send out to random people that i have never met, i have so many reports were i have to have the info right or things dont work out just right, so many meetings, so many exchanges i mean i probably could sit here and just write a list of things that i could complain about! But yesterday in elders quorum we read a talk from Elder Bednar from last conference, and it all hit me! If we think about the people of Ammon they were enslaved and put to work pretty much with some intense labor! But not once did the Lord take them out of their trials, He gave them strength to endure the trials! And along the way they learned more about our Father in Heaven, and probably a little about themselves. Now i havent been enslaved, even though it might feel like it, nor am i doing intense labor. But the Lord has given me strength and i have learned TONS the past four months of my life! It goes back to Pres Uchtdorfs' Attitude of Graduated! The more i learn about the gospel and the more i come to understand it, the more it becomes more about the relationship with our Heavenly Father and knowing our Savoir Jesus Christ, and what those relationships can do for all of us! Having a deeper knowledge of that brings a greater understanding of life :). We all can and will be strengthened in our trials, most of the time we wont be brought out of our trials! When a trial comes remember the story of Nephi going back to get the plates, he didnt have a plan, but he had faith in God. Its the faith part that matters the most! Have faith and see where that leads ya :) I promise that with Faith in Christ we will never fall! I love you all so much! I pray for you all day every day! 

Elder Dennison