Transfers!!

Hey Ya'll,
Another transfer has gone by. Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday I was finding out I was coming to Ozark, AL. This transfer has flown by. Faster than any other transfer. This week especially.
On Tuesday after District Meeting in Enterprise, I went on a trade-off with Elder Tolley to Andalusia. It was a long hour drive from Enterprise to Andalusia, but it was fun to talk to Elder Tolley. He's from Sandy and went to Alta two years before I did. Well, graduated two years before I did. We talked about different things, but the coolest was that he liked soccer. It made conversations easy because we would talk about what we did in high school and how soccer was before we left. He left right after the Euro Cup ended. It seems like that was so far away.
We had a semi productive day. It was hard to tract in the rain. We were soaking wet when it was time to come in for the day, but we had fun working hard. Elder Tolley is a great missionary. I learned a lot from him, like slowing down when I'm talking to someone or sharing a message with someone. I usually try to 'force feed' someone the gospel on the doorstep. Not only is this the wrong way, it is hard for them to come to know for themselves. God gave us agency, they should be able to use it to accept or deny the message. Also, its just a waste of time if they were planning on rejecting us from the beginning.
We traded back late Wednesday evening in Enterprise. It was good to be with Elder Tolley, but I was ready to go back with Elder Brian in Ozark. The next day was our planning day and the day after that we had another trade-off with the Zone Leaders. I went to the North side of Ozark with Elder Thompson. He's from Nampa Idaho. It was great as we talked about many different things. Including a less active lady who tried to persuade us that gambling was ok, as long as there was no alcohol. It was funny. She had talked to some other Elders who told her that she could go play bingo, because it was a good social event and if there was nothing bad there, like alcohol. Well she took it to a whole new level thinking that all gambling was ok, if there was no alcohol. We laughed for a while after that. Elder Thompson was great. I learned that love is the only way to compel someone to trust you. If they feel that they are loved, they will share with you their feelings, they will share with you their concerns and they will want to read and pray because they know you won't lead them astray. Elder Thompson declared his love for a couple who were going through some hard times and we had just asked them to pay tithing. It was really cool to see their eyes light up and their countenance soften and comforted as he bore witness of his love. It was great.
This next transfer is going to be tough though. My first Christmas away from home. Tim's last, lucky. I am however, really excited about the Christmas season. People are happier, more cheerful, they want to love their families more and are looking for something to hold on to as the New Years comes around. I'm really excited about some of our investigators and I feel they will progress more during this Christmas season.
I love ya'll and pray for you too. Keep the spirit of Christmas close to you
during the joyful season.
Elder Call