1/6/14

Sounds like everyone is doing well and enjoyed the break!  That's good to hear!  I'm doing very well, in fact, I'm doing awesome!  I got transferred to the Richmond West Zone and on bikes again with my new companion, Elder Skinner.  He is the District leader!  He is also from Hermiston, Oregon and actually knows where Moses Lake is, he's been there!  He has been out on his mission for 19 months now and I'm hoping I'll be the one to kill him off (in mission terms, ha ha).  We're doing great!  Oh, so my new address is:

1757  Charles St.
Richmond, VA  23226

Glad you were able to get the pictures that I sent.  Were you able to open them up yet?  It is pretty cold over here on bikes but we've been staying warm.  Maybe having a black beanie would help as we ride.  Elder Skinner has given me another one of his ski masks to use but it's not always THAT cold.  Usually after the sun goes down it is though.  It's supposed to be pretty bad tonight but we will be fine. :)

So, I'm still getting to know the area, but the ward seems pretty solid!  They're awesome and great!  Our ward mission leader is from Albania and was baptized when he was 18 then served a mission!  He's pretty cool!  We have a great investigator right now who had her interview for baptism last Saturday.  We resolved all of her concerns that she had but yesterday she texted us saying that if church was going to stay at 9:30 then she shouldn't be baptized.  She had been working a nightshift job and was recently let go so the schedule is throwing her off.  I don't know, it's just kind of frustrating and sad.  We are still working with her though.  She needs to have a testimony of the Book of Mormon strengthened and it will as she continues to read it.  Please pray for her.

I love you all!

-Elder Austin Mounts

12/30/13

I loved talking to you all this Christmas!!  It was definitely the best Christmas present!  I'm glad everyone loved seeing me and was able to put up with me!  I get super hyper when I'm excited but I'm sure you all know that ha ha!  Elder Ray is a great guy, friend, and missionary!  I'm going to miss him because guess what?  I'm being transferred yet again!  It's kind of frustrating since I just got here but it's mostly sad.  My comp had some tears and I tried to hide mine as well.  I won't know who I'm going to be with til the actual transfer meeting...It can be a little scary, especially if you've loved all of your companions.  I'm sure everything will work out though!

I wish I could've seen JP open his call packet but I'm glad I got to see the excitement in his face when he told me about it.  I'm so excited for him and I can tell he's ready to go preach the gospel as well.  He's a great guy, love him to death! 

A sewing kit would be great because I would use it to hem my pants.  I can promise you that I will definitely be using it!  I have three pairs that need it.  The hemming was super flimsy to begin with.

We taught the Restoration to a man named Alex.  I think I told you about him in my last email.  It was cool to be able to feel the Spirit in the room as we went over the role of the Book of Mormon and why it is so important and the keystone to our religion.  We explained how the Book of Mormon and Bible work together as two witnesses testifying of Christ and how they testify of one another.  We again invited him to baptism and (this is my favorite part) promised him that as he studied and sincerely prayed, putting forth his faith, that he would receive an answer that the Book of Mormon is indeed true.  We also told him that Heavenly Father wants him to enter the waters of baptism so he can receive all of the promised blessings Heavenly Father has in store for us.  It was a great lesson!

I love you all!

-Elder Austin Mounts

12/16/13

Our week was pretty great!  We went through our former investigators and found a few new potential investigators and have appointments with them this coming week!  I'll have pictures for you this next Pday.  The whole mission is getting together tomorrow so I'll be taking pictures ha ha!  I wonder if I'll be skyping when JP opens his call!  That would be cool!  I will be keeping the Vernon's in my prayers, thank you for the reminder.

We have one family that is so close to baptism.  Please continue to pray for them.  They pretty much have been active members for the past 6 months! The ward members are awesome!  They're probably the best ward when it comes to helping out the missionaries, fellowshipping, working with us and feeding us.  I know a lot of the ward through dinners and it's helped establish a relationship so we easily work well together.  I love it! 

I bore my testimony on Sunday.  I emailed Luke the structure of what I told the ward if you want to read it.  I'm sure he'll let you. 

We're going over to the Schrade's for Christmas and will be skyping from there!  She's like the ward mom, ha ha!  She's pretty awesome!  They are all great and live right across from our investigator.  I think the sisters will be coming with us to teach a Christmas lesson. 

I'll probably call you beforehand to figure out the Skype address and all that jazz.  Mom, is your cell number the same?

My favorite scripture right now is 2 Nephi 32:3.  It talks about constantly feasting upon the words of Christ (or diligently studying the scriptures) and how that will allow the Holy ghost to guide you in life and tell you what to do.  You will receive answers in what to do, such as receiving a testimony, or anything in life!  I like that scripture because you can be guided to the answer for anything you stand in need of from scripture study! 

Love you guys!

-Elder Austin Mounts

12/11/13

We have had a crazy week!  Sunday, the weather was so bad that we only had sacrament meeting and all the other wards ended up doing the same or just cancelled altogether!  The library was finally open today after the sun came out and that's why my email came late.  I'm loving the area though!  This ward is awesome and because they're so good with feeding the missionaries and they're missionary minded, we know the families so well!!  We haven't seen anyone this week other than the members that feed us because the weather has been snow/freezing rain/slush and now ice.  It's getting more and more difficult surprisingly, to see people because of the holidays and all the men of the homes that commute to DC in this area.  However, we make it work!  We are trying to see our family as much as possible and have been able to get them involved in a lot of ways in the ward, most recently was probably the ward Christmas party!  It was a great hit!

Elder Ray is my new companion.  We live with the Garrisonville Elders and only one of them gets to me sometimes.  I'm continually learning patience in the mission.  Is there a reason behind that? :)

The investigator from KG has not been baptized yet and I will know asap from Elder Bowen when the baptism is occurring.  It will be soon though! 

I'm excited for the Christmas package!  Thank you very much!  I'm most excited to Skype with you guys at the Reagh's!  I'll finally have JP's email address as well.

Right now we have 4 progressing investigators and I'd say about at least 4 other investigators.  We've tried to contact the others throughout last week but no such luck.  Either they're sick, not home or too busy.  But we keep trying! :)  My mission president is a little more strict with certain rules than the other one but he's a great guy!  I just wish I could read "Believing Christ" and "Finding Faith in Christ" still.  Only the missionary library is approved.  I'm okay with that though.  I'll just have to read them in a year and four months.  Oh yeah, today is my 8 month mark!  Pretty crazy huh?  I love you guys!  I'll send some sweet pictures next week!

-Elder Austin Mounts

12/2/13

I spent Thanksgiving with a great family in our ward!  They are an awesome family!  They have a 17 year old boy, 15 yr old boy, 11 yr old girl, 5 yr old girl, and 3 yr old boy.  We played Apples to Apples Disney with the kids and that was a lot of fun!  We all got beat by the 11 yr old!  We also had a turkey bowl with the Garrisonville ward.  It was a great Thanksgiving!

My new area is very pretty!  It reminds me a lot of Carnation.  The housing developments are very nice.  A lot of people commute to DC and have some crazy jobs!  One guy in our ward is in the FBI and another is in the Secret Service, it's pretty cool!  I think I told you that I'm biking now. 

We are still working with our investigators so continue to pray for them!

Love you guys!

-Elder Austin Mounts

11/25/13

I am going to answer your questions by number order:

1.  I'm still in the same stake, but I will send a picture of it next week.
2.  I got transferred to a place called Accokeek, it just became a ward recently enough.
3.  Elder Jared Ray is my new companion, he is awesome.  We've served together before and he is from Lehi, Utah.
5.  I'm no longer District Leader.  We technically no longer have senior or junior comps, officially.  However, I am new to the area so Elder Ray is teaching me everything.
6.  It is definitely cold here and I'm using my winter coat a lot because guess what?  THIS IS A BIKING AREA! Lots of hills too!  It's not flat like Moses Lake.  I'm definitely getting a workout! 
7.  My last investigator is not baptized yet.  The baptism and marriage will probably be in December and I'm close enough to them that I will probably try to be there for both.  They really want me to!

I'm going to miss spending Thanksgiving with you guys.  Who exactly is going to be at our place?  The Kolste's? Moore's?  Grandma Mounts?  Clares?  Sounds like a lot of fun!  We are being fed constantly by the ward here and they are super cool families.  We will be having quite a Thanksgiving too!  We've been told to bring our appetites!  I wish I could remember who it will be with, but I'm still trying to learn everyone's names.  This ward is bigger than the King George one.

Does Luke enjoy choir?  When will I get another email from that kid?  I have a lot to tell him.  Btw, if you guys could send me a copy of a choir concert on a DVD that would work on a portable DVD player for Christmas that would be great!  I'm eager to see Luke, Alex and Thatcher in choir!

My new address is:  1001 Highpointe Blvd.
                                 Stafford, VA  22554

We live in a 3 story apartment, more like a house with another set of Elders.  Elder Williams and Elder Linton!  It's a blast!  AND THIS APARTMENT HAS CARPET!  My last one didn't.

My schedule is pretty great, I guess.  With us biking everywhere, we spend a lot of time getting around places, but we have two families we are working with.  I've met one of the families at church and they're so close to being baptized.  I have yet to meet with the other family though.  At the end of the day we usually spend eating at a members home.  Then after we get home, we plan and do things that are productive.  Riding uphill makes me exhausted at the end of the day but I will get better, ha ha!

We recently got new Zone Leaders, Elder Canova and Elder Jensen.  They are great!

Please pray for our investigators.  One of the families have a daughter that may have a stronger desire to be baptized but there is an issue keeping her back right now.  They don't want to be baptized without her.

Well, I love ya'all and I hope and pray that you'll have an awesome week!

-Elder Austin Mounts

11/18/13

I have some news.  I am getting transferred out of KG!  I'm going to miss serving with Elder Bowen!  He is definitely a favorite companion of mine.  He is my son, my first born in the wilderness (the companion that I have trained).  I will miss him.  I'm excited for both of us though!  I'm looking forward to going to a new area! 

Our week was fantastic!  We had 4 lessons with our investigators this week.  Most of them were us sharing scriptures and talking about coming to church even when you're tired in the morning.  Seriously, we could relate to that.  I shared an experience where I had my testimony strengthened before my mission.  I shared chapter 3 Nephi 18 and how it helped comfort me because it's where Christ institutes the sacrament unto the Nephites.  I reminded them how we can feel at peace every time we partake of the sacrament.  I feel that is what they needed at that time too.

I would wait to send anything until I am transferred.  I will let you know what my new address will be asap!  I'm not sure if it would be better for me to write you all a physical letter because I am not the best when it comes to writing letters.  I'm usually out with other missionaries on Pday.  I'll be sure to send the pictures that I will have by the end of the week, you can count on that. 

I love you all and miss you all a WHOLE lot!!!

-Elder Austin Mounts

11/11/13

Our investigators are still doing great!  They are getting married this Saturday and then next Saturday one of them is getting baptized!  We are excited for them!!!  The members are good people!  Our ward mission leader has got some German in him on his Dad's side, it's pretty sweet!  We also had a service project last Tuesday, but I was on exchanges with Elder Felt, one of our zone leaders.  It was great!!

We had to get our tire patched up because I ran over a screw.  Yes mom, we changed the tire with ease.  I know how to change a tire!  Anyways, as we were waiting on our tire, we were in the waiting room and the tv was on.  It was showing several veterans surprising their families by coming home at a random time.  There were 4 of us elders and we were all teary eyes throughout the whole thing.  We would've broke down by ourselves we all admitted.  But it was very neat to see the love between the family members and the little children with their fathers. 

That would be cool to get some physical mail.  I get some every week and it's great! 

I love you guys!!!

-Elder Mounts

11/3/13

So, not much happened this past week either.  Our investigators are doing fantastic!  They are still on the road for their marriage and one of them for baptism.  It's great to hear about everyone and how they're doing!  I miss it back in Washington.  Virginia is beautiful in some areas but it's not Washington.

Elder Bowen and I are doing great!  To be honest though, we're getting tired of being in King George.  Maybe it's because I've been here awhile.  Exchanges are not my favorite but I guess it's something I need to get used to.  It's there for a purpose. 

What do I want for Christmas?  Geez, I have no idea.  I will have to think on that one.  Umm, sorry about the pictures.  There's none to take.  I don't really know what to take pictures of.  I tend to take none.  Tell me what you would like a picture of. :)

Love you all!!!!

-Elder Mounts