Happy 20th Birthday Elder Talley!

"It's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to, cry if I want to...But I don't feel like crying at all, I have noticed how much that I am really loved and it is amazing...Boy this week has been interesting, ups and downs. But still a really good week. We had a lot of appointments this week, which was nice to have, it makes the week go by faster. We met with Richard 3 times. First he came to church last week, then we did service for him and I sweated off about 10 pounds. (I lost a lot of the weight I gained when summer came...Schade) (hard) and then we had a big night where we were going to give him a baptismal date. We went to a members house and watched the restoration DVD. Then the member bore his testimony and helped answer questions that he had. Then Elder Jacobsen bore his testimony and then it was my turn to give the date...I could really feel the spirit talking through me, it was beautiful, it was perfect. After I asked Richard if he would get baptized he smiled and put his head down. Then he looked at me and told me he knows that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the church is true, but he is stuck on the idea that more than one church can be true and that his is. Baptisims are what we are sent out here to do, but maybe somethimes at the moment it isn't the most important thing. Richard is closer to his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ than when we started to teach him, he has so much more knowledge now. He is happier and that is important. I don't doubt that one day he will accept the gospel fully and be baptized. I have been trying really hard to get a good relationship with the members so that they will trust us and help us in our efforts to find the people that are ready. And it has been paying off! We have gotten 5 referrals this week alone, and that is really unheard of. Elder Jacobsen said he has gotten more referrals here this week than he has his whole mission. So thats pretty sweet.
I hurt myself every week somehow...Last week during soccer Elder Jacobsen and I ran into each others shins as I was trying to steal the ball from him and I got a hugh bump and bruise and my scar peeled up a little bit. It was intense. Oh and the week before a member kicked my big toe and it bruised up nice and good. Well this week no different, I was defending the goal and I charged another Elder, Elder Hodges and he slipped cause I scared him and slid into me then somehow he collided with both my feet and messed them up pretty bad..My big toe on the R foot has a weird bruise on the bottem and a blood blister on the top, and the other toes hurt. Then the L big toe the nail got bent back half way and is not feeling too well! Hopefully this next week I won't hurt mayself..haha.
So far my birthday has been really nice, which I am grateful for. I am no longer a teenager woot woot!" Elder Talley