Elder Brian Vawdrey: Happy New Year!

Familia y Amigos,

Happy New Year!!! I hope you all had a great holiday weekend once again!! To celebrate here in Columbus, Elder Keele and I made some good ol' "HORCHATA!!" haha Its a super good drink :)

As for an update on the week, we had a sweet visit with a referral that we received earlier. His name is JG and he is the one that came to church the day after we met him!! haha And his roommate also listened in when we came over. JG is from Guatemala and his roommate is from Ecuador. They both have beliefs in God and JG knows a lot about the church. The roommate has tons of questions. But just last night was super awesome. They really opened up to us and we had a great visit with them about how God is our loving Heavenly Father and that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can receive forgiveness for our sins and no longer feel guilt. They both were super into the lesson and it was powerful. They want to meet with us again and we are super excited to work with them!! The thought still pains me as I walk around here in Columbus and think about the people all around and none of them know anything about the gospel. That thought just motivates me to do missionary work and makes me so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.

This morning my companion and I went on a run with our branch president and it was great!! I thought of an analogy as we were running. When we first started, it was bitter cold. The wind was blowing in our faces and we almost turned back. We decided to go a little different way so the wind wasn't as bad and ran on a little dirt trail! It was gorgeous. Then, on the way back, the sun was out and the wind was at our backs. I got thinking about this as we were running back and how sometimes from our perspective we feel like it's bitter cold and the wind is blowing in our face. But if we decide to go a better way (take the trail) and focus on the future without fear, our attitude will be better and the Lord will help us find a way. If we stick things out, then it will be all better at the end and we will have the sun (Son, Lord) by our side and He will help us.

I know the Lord loves us and is aware of each one of us. Stay close to him and he will guide you.