South Carolina Columbia

Sept 30 Hi Everyone, This week was a crazy one!  First, a hurricane came out of nowhere! It was crazy but I was safe and everyone I knew was safe.  We had power on after a couple hours but some people had to wait a couple days.  The last 3 days we have just been picking up trees and haven't knocked a single door.  But we are staying safe and helping out the community.  The weirdest thing was that the church had no power so we had church in the dark with some flashlights.  It was actually pretty fun.   The other crazy thing is that this was transfers week and I am training again.   His first couple days have been just moving logs.  His name is Elder Rose from Washington. He is really cool and has been adapting to just moving logs all day very well!  We didn't have a single normal day but hopefully this week will be more normal. I stayed safe and it's been great helping out everyone! The ward ha...

Sept 23 Hi Everyone,   This week was not like I expected.  The first thing was that the exchange I was going on got cancelled because something came up in the other companionship.  Then Cierra wasn't feeling well so she didn't  come to church and we didn't go to her church.   We had a big zone meeting which was a lot of fun and then President Hamblin asked if he could come to a lesson with us!  It was really stressful but he ended up enjoying the lesson!  He was really supportive and it was fun to have him there.    It was also Elder Vaivaka's last Sunday as a missionary so he wore a pink suit.  I had to take a pic with him.  It was a really fun week and this week there are transfers! I don't think I will leave but anything is possible.   Love, Elder Gurney

Sept 16 Hi Everyone,   This week was a pretty standard week.  I don't have any pictures which I apologize for but it was a good week all things considered. We did have to get our oil changed and it took 3 hours which was rough.  The week ended well with Cierra coming to church again! It's the second week she has come and she really enjoyed it. She said that she will be here next week as well!  Next week we will probably go with her to her Baptist church she attends in the mornings.  I am excited to go to a Baptist church where hopefully they won't single me out like last time.     But this week we have a big zone meeting and I'm going to go around with Elder Moon for a day which will be fun.  So there will be photos next week.   Love, Elder Gurney

  Sept 9 Hi Everyone,   This week was a fun one.  I was able to go on exchanges in Gaffney, South Carolina with Elder Gregory.  It was a lot of fun and it was cool to serve in a large area again even if it was just for a day.  But we also had a zone conference and it was really nice. There were a lot of great insights and I learned a lot.    The highlight of the week was that we had our great friend Cierra come to church and she brought her two kids as well.  One of the kids was wearing an "I am a child of God" shirt.  It was really cool.  She said she enjoyed it so we will see where that goes.     I was able to get Watchtower magazines from a Jehovah's Witness so that definitely makes this week a success.  Ha!    Love, Elder Gurney

Sept 2 Hi Everyone,   This week was a pretty standard week.  Not much stuff happened but it was a great week where we worked hard.  We have been meeting with a guy named Walter and we had a great meeting with him.  We invited him to start reading the Book of Mormon and he reached out to us before our lesson asking where he was supposed to read!  He is a really nice guy and I am excited to see where he will go.  Other than that it was a pretty standard week.  This upcoming week we have a zone conference which will be fun.    Love, Elder Gurney