July 17, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been an excellent last week of the mission! We worked hard
and we found some amazing people who will continue to progress in the
gospel with the missionaries that will be here.

Gabriela has a goal to be baptized on the 5th of August. She is only
10 years old so we're helping her by going over Book of Mormon stories
with her. Her parents were recently baptized as well and are helping
her a lot. We played a fun jeopardy game with them where we divided
the family into teams and went over all that they learned about before
they were baptized. It was a nice way to have fun, learn, and go over
some questions that they had. Elder Vivas will be sure to help her
progress to her baptismal day. We're super excited for her.

Yesterday night at around 8:00 we met a young man named Kevin. Kevin
is 21 years old and when we asked him if we could share this message
with him, he immediately let us in! Kevin is from El Salvador and it
was fun being with him! He has a great sense of humor but is also
serious when he needs to be. We went over the restoration and how God
has reached out to us in love once again by restoring the church
through modern day Apostles and Prophets. He is preparing to be
baptized on the 11th of August and when he prayed about it at the end
of the lesson he felt really good about it. Elder Vivas will be
showing him the church building this week and taking him to church
this next Sunday!

Last Saturday I was able to see Elisa again! She met us at the Draper
Temple and we were able to talk and see how she was doing. She is
great! She is active in her new Ward in Saratoga Springs which was
recently split. Before the split there were 800 members in her Ward!
Now there are 400 which is still crazy!!!! She still has an amazing
Spirit around her and I was glad that I was able to say goodbye before
I left. Also seeing Elder Sandino was nice! He's one of my most
favorite companions that I've ever had!

During this mission I've learned so many lessons that I will take with
me for the rest of my life. I've learned how the Holy Ghost speaks to
me and I've learned how to follow His promptings. I've learned how to
get answers to my questions and how to serve those around me. The
greatest jewel of my mission is my newfound conversion to the gospel
of Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that He lives and loves us. I
know that if we keep the gospel path that He has given us, then we
will have eternal life.

Family! I'll see you Wednesday!!!

I hope everyone has a great week!

July 10, 2017

Dear Family and Friends!

This has been a great week! We have found many new people to teach!
Elder Vivas and I have found the secret to success: MEMBER MISSIONARY
WORK!!!!! Since our interviews with President Lansing last Thursday,
Elder Vivas and I wanted to revamp our efforts in this area and so we
prayed and talked a lot about it. We came to the conclusion and
feeling that if we can involve the members in visiting people then the
Lord would bless us with success. Every day since we've been able to
have someone from the Ward out with us and we've seen so much success!
Everyone seems to be home when we have a member with us!!! We've been
able to set up a ton of appointments for this next week and everything
is looking great!! The Ward is working with us really well and we all
want to see success and we bring our

Well this will be my last week and I plan on Sprinting to the end. I
live by the scripture that says "62 And Jesus said unto him, No man,
having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God." Luke 9:62

I hope that everyone has a great week!

July 3, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

Well I am sprinting to the end!!! There is a lot of work to do still
and the Lord isn't finished with me yet!

Elder Vivas and I have made some serious commitments to step up the
work. We're putting to use all of the knowledge that we've gained over
the course of our mission to find success. We've found a lot this
week. Many people we run into on the streets are prepared to accept
the restored gospel. There was someone we ran into yesterday who has
been seriously considering joining the church because her daughter
recently did so. She was soooo receptive!!! We listened to her story
and gave her some commitment that would really help her. I felt the
Holy Ghost tell me that she would join very soon as we walked away. We
haven't seen too much Spanish work but we have been used as tools in
the Lord's hands to build up the kingdom with everyone that we've run
into.

I'm doing great! My wrist is still really messed up but it should be
getting better soon. President Lansing gave me permission to contact
my cousin, Braiden, who is a physical therapist. It was super weird to
talk with him on the phone haha! But he's going to send me some
exercises that I can do to help.

In my personal study I came across one of my favorite passages of
scripture, Jacob 5! I just want to share a couple verses that mean a
lot to me. To give some explanation, the vineyard is the world and all
the fruit are us, the people of the world. I have it set in my mind to
be one of the servants mentioned in the scripture.

70 And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard sent his servant;
and the servant went and did as the Lord had commanded him, and
brought other servants; and they were few.
71 And the Lord of the vineyard said unto them: Go to, and labor in
the vineyard, with your might. For behold, this is the last time that
I shall nourish my vineyard; for the end is nigh at hand, and the
season speedily cometh; and if ye labor with your might with me ye
shall have joy in the fruit which I shall lay up unto myself against
the time which will soon come.
72 And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their
mights; and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them; and they
did obey the commandments of the Lord of the vineyard in all things.
75 And it came to pass that when the Lord of the vineyard saw that his
fruit was good, and that his vineyard was no more corrupt, he called
up his servants, and said unto them: Behold, for this last time have
we nourished my vineyard; and thou beholdest that I have done
according to my will; and I have preserved the natural fruit, that it
is good, even like as it was in the beginning. And blessed art thou;
for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard,
and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the
natural fruit, that my vineyard is no more corrupted, and the bad is
cast away, behold ye shall have joy with me because of the fruit of my
vineyard.

I hope that we can all set it in our minds to be one of the servants
of the vineyard. I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Kallin James Austin
Utah SLC South Mission

June 26, 2017

Dear Family and Friends,

We had a special experience this week. As you all know from the last
email, Nic asked me to baptize him. It was a fantastic baptism! I was
so nervous the entire time I was there!!! I've only personally
baptized two other people before so I didn't have too much experience.
But everything went perfectly fine! Nic was baptized and was even
given the gift of the Holy Ghost. I'm so thankful that the Lord lead
us to his home! It was a huge miracle!

So another crazy miracle happened to us. We were on exchanges and I
was with my district leader, Elder Oliva. While we were biking and
visiting people, there was an old woman walking on the side of the
road. We stopped by and talked to her. Elder Oliva recognized her as
Hermana Seis, a member of the Ward. She reached behind her and grabbed
two envelopes and handed us each one. Each contained 10 dollars. I
asked her how she knew we would be coming by. She responded by simply
saying "I was praying and I felt the I presión to do it so I did."
Well later that day I was biking and I hit a pot hole. My bike stayed
in the pot hole and I was thrown off and landed on the sidewalk. I
hurt my wrist pretty bad and I was sent to a local hospital to get
x-rays. The insurance that we have on the mission will cover all
medical expenses as long as we pay a $10 co-pay which is exactly what
Hermana Seis have to us. That was crazy for me!!! I'll be okay but I'm
taking it easy with any activities we do.

Everything else is great! We're looking for new people to teach right
now. Please keep us on your prayers!!!

Have a great week!!!

June 16, 2017

Dear Family and Friends!!!

Elder Vivas and I had a wonderful week this week!!!!

I've been getting to know my new companion more. He is always kind. He
looks for the good in everyone and befriends them. He is always
smiling!!! I don't I've ever seen him without a smile! He is also a
hard worker. He wants to serve his Savior the very best that he can.
We talk about all the time how we can improve and give more of
ourselves to the work.

This week we met a new man named Genaro. He was working outside on the
wall to his home, repairing it so he could sleep that night. We asked
him if he had time for a message and he said yes! We taught him about
how God has called prophets and apostles in our days to help us and
guide us. We told him about how the heavens are open again and that
miracles are on the earth again. We told him about how we desire
everyone to be baptized by Priesthood authority restored to Joseph
Smith by Jesus Christ so that he could receive all the blessings that
Heavenly Father has for us today. He agreed to it. Right now we've had
a hard time contacting so everyone keep Genaro in your prayers.

So I got a phone call today. It was Nic who was someone I met in my
last area with Elder Sandino. I was excited to say the least to hear
from him!!! He told me that he was getting baptized this Saturday and
then he asked if I would baptize him. I was very grateful and said "of
course!" It's such a blessing to see those who have become so
important to you make steps in their lives that you know will bless
them. It will be a great privilege to be able to participate in Nic's
baptism!

I hope everyone has a great week!!!

Elder Kallin James Austin
Utah SLC South Mission

June 13, 2017

Hello family and friends!!!

What an amazing week this has been!!!! Elder Vivas and I are doing so
much work together!!!!

So we were able to get together with the Ward mission leader this week
and we made a poster to put up in the church building so that the
members can see our faces and numbers. I'll be sure to attach it on
the email.

In other news I love biking!!!! I meet so many cool people everyday!
Just yesterday we were biking home and we saw a woman in our way. She
was walking with a huge backpack and so I decided to carry it for her
and get to know her. She was living in poverty and didn't have a home.
I brought up religion and she talked about how she's been reading the
Book of Mormon and the Bible recently. She has a goal to return to
church and then be baptized as a member of the church when she get a
home to live in. I gave her everything I could and then we parted
ways. She considered us showing up as a sign that this is the right
path for her.

Yesterday as well we were able to meet a new investigator. His name is
Genaro. He was working on his home and we decided to approach him and
ask if he had some time for a message. He agreed and we taught him. He
loved everything we shared and could feel the Holy Ghost. He accepted
a baptismal date for the 8th of July and he is also planning on coming
to church. We're going to see him tomorrow and hopefully meet the rest
of his family. What an amazing start to the week!!!

Today we just got back from a temple trip. It was a wonderful
experience and I could feel very strongly the Holy Ghost there. I'll
be sure to attach pictures!

Sorry that this email is shorter than the others but we don't have too
much time. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!!