Pittsburgh Mission Memoirs

Service has been the theme of this week. Pennsylvania did a giant day of service on Saturday where we spent several hours raking and bagging leaves in a state park. Tuesday we helped a disabled member put together a trampoline for his granddaughter. Definitely makes you feel good. One way we serve out here is by visiting one of the elderly-est members of the Branch - Shirley. She...

An interesting (or perhaps, very uninteresting) thing about Pennsylvania, and something that has been a big part of my mission so far: There are 50,000 members in this state and 104 congregations, according to LDS.org. An average congregation has had anywhere between 180 to 200 members in attendance each week, although my current branch only has around 55-65 each week. Doing the...

This week has been fairly successful. Sadly, it's been a little dull, but that's okay. Although it has been a week of firsts, in several ways.  We were driving down the road, trying to figure out who to visit where and when. A person popped into my head. Now, mind you, it was weird because I didn't know the face of the person, nor did I know the name. Regardless, I knew...

This week has been oodles of fun. We've done some pretty crazy things, like always. Seriously, every day is an adventure when you are a missionary because you never know who will be behind whatever door you are knocking, or which investigator is going to ask what crazy question or what random person is going to stop you on the street to ask you to help them with their lives... or...

This has been a week of changes, and the only way I'll be able to describe everything to you is by giving a play-by-play day-by-day. So, bear with me, and here it goes. Monday, we went over to Sean and Becky's to give them the Stop Smoking program. They did it. They promised to do it, and I believe them. In fact, they should be non-smokers completely by now. The program lasts for...