Elder Keith Rushton

Watermelon Mtn. Dew!

Hello everyone! I hope it has been a good couple of weeks since my last email! The holidays are over and we're jumping right in to a new year! I hope this one isn't as wack as the last one 😂

It has been a surprising past few weeks! This past Thursday was transfers, us 4 elders in Roch 5 weren't really sure what was gonna happen with us, but we knew Elder Alcorn would leave for sure. We were right on that, he got shipped off but Elder Soter and I both got transferred as well! We left Elder Blaylock down there to get 3 new companions and we all went our separate ways. I am now in the Andover area in the Anoka zone, Elder Alcorn is in Shingle creek also in the Anoka zone so we'll get to see each other a little every once in a while! And Elder Soter is with some Zone Leaders in Minneapolis until he flies down to Africa on the 21st! Pretty exciting stuff!

So with our area, the transfer boards showed i would be in a trio with Elder Sowards and Elder Lott, but on Thursday we got a bit of a surprise! So one of the Elders in the Roch 4 area, Elder Wright, was called to the Congo mission in Africa and he was supposed to fly down Thursday morning, but before he could check his bags, they got word from his mission that they're closing it down cause an elder there got covid. So Elder Wright ended up getting put with us 3 here in Andover and will technically be my companion until he actually gets to leave. We aren't sure when that will be but it could be anywhere from 2 weeks to a whole transfer, but probably only 2 weeks! So we had to split up our ward and area between the 4 of us, which luckily went pretty smoothly! But regardless of the surprises I'm pretty excited about the situation! These are some good guys and i think we'll have a good time! The area has lots of good members and quite of few investigators we can teach! I have some pretty high hopes for this transfer and i doubt I'll be let down! And this apartment is bigger and nicer than the Roch 5 apartment! 😂

The covid restrictions up here are still pretty much the same but we just got word we can eat inside of restaurants that are open now! But only with our household and one other missionary household in our district, but still that's way better than having to ask to do 4 separate orders in a drive through! 😂 We still do church through zoom up here as well, hopefully the in-person stuff can come back soon! I hope you all haven't had too many issues with covid and it all just goes away soon!

Recently in my studies i have been looking at all the different names or titles that Christ has, it has been really cool and definitely helpful so I would recommend taking a look at that in the Bible dictionary, but there was one name with a scripture connected to it that stuck out to me! So the name is Captain of Salvation, and the scripture I'd like to share is Hebrews 2: 9-10

"9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings"

These verses as well as the rest of chapter 2 of Hebrews are very interesting to me! It really focuses on how the Savior was sent to the earth to experience our sufferings, to go through our pains, and pay the price for our sins! Christ held a high position in the premortal life and by coming down to earth the way he did, spending time with the people He spent time with, and being the humblest example, He condescended to the lowest of lows so that He could then rise above all things and fulfill the plan that was made on all of our behalfs! He felt everything we have or will ever feel, paid the price of everything that we will ever owe, was killed for our sakes and rose again to then become the Captain of our Salvation! This allows us to go through our lives with the ability to receive enough guidance and strength to get through it all, and ultimately return to our Father in Heaven with the price of all our mistakes already paid for! Christ is our Savior! His purpose has been fulfilled and He has shown us the way! All we have to do now is follow Him!

I love you all! I'm so grateful for you all and the support i have from you! I am so grateful for this time that I have to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ! I am so eternally grateful for His gospel and the numerous blessings that continue to flow because of it! I hope you all continue to come closer to your Father and Heaven and His son, your Savior! Stay safe and have an excellent week!

~Elder Rushton