First week in the Green Hills area.

March 17, 2014

Hey Family & Friends!!

Oh man this week has probably been one of the craziest weeks of my mission! I'm settled into the Green Hills area now and it is completely different than Marion, Kentucky! Haha that's for sure! My new companion Elder Harris is also completely different than I've ever had. He is 19, from Hawaii, and he is Samoan. He isn't a big guy though.

I'm in a normal ward now and it's so weird when you come from a small branch. Haha. I love the members though! They are so nice! Hopefully we can establish an awesome friendship with them so that we can have them help us out. We have so many Doctors, Lawyers, Dentists, Professors and overall millionaires. We also have those who are really struggling financially. They explained it to me by saying, "We have the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor". Any members that feed us in Brentwood are pretty rich. Their houses are insane!! We had dinner with the Clark Family yesterday... Wow! Their house is ridiculous! Even Sis Clark says that it's pretty insane. Haha. They are some of the nicest people and super funny! I was telling Sis Clark that I would have to bring my parents to their house and she said, "Oh for sure!! They can even stay over if they want!! We will totally party with you guys!!" Bro Clark is an Oral Surgeon. They are awesome!

This area is going to be a lot of work! The missionaries in the past haven't done too great of a job, but we are hoping to change that! We are mainly focusing on the members right now.

Thanks for all you guys do!! I love and miss you guys!! I hope you have a fantastic week!

-Love Elder Cottam

Sent from my iPad

A text from a member of the Green Hills Ward!

On Wednesday March 12th, I got this text from a member of the Green Hills Ward!  

"Hi Sis. Cottam!  We had dinner with your son tonight.  He is wonderful and we are happy he is here! "

I was so excited to see Tyson's cute face and to see what his new companion looks like.  This is Elder Harris.  I can't tell you how fun it is to get random pictures of my son!! 

Success in Marion!

March 10, 2014

Hey Family and Friends,

I'm glad that I'm being Transferred. I get to see what it's like to be in a new area and I already know it will be different. President told me that it is the richest of the rich and the poorest of the poor. Completely different to Marion! Haha. I also get to ride a bus. Not sure how much, but he said that I'll get a lot of time to find people while on the bus. I'll have a bus pass and everything! Crazy! Haha I'm going to love it!

Elder Roney is staying in Marion. I'm going to miss him. He has been my favorite companion so far. I know that he will do well in Marion.

The baptism went great!! Chris is such an awesome guy. So humble and so nice. The Princeton Sisters have been teaching him. The cool thing about Chris is how we found him. The Princeton Branch went to a fair called, "The Blackpatch Festival" around July of last year. They had a booth and they asked people to fill out surveys to win a picture of Christ and some other things. So, Chris filled it out and he didn't think they were going to contact him because it had been so long. Last Transfer, Elder Lofthouse & Elder Short (At that time, they were the Princeton Elders) gave me a bunch of referrals from the festival. Well for some reason they gave me some Princeton ones. So, we were calling them and asking if they were interested and we weren't having much success. I happened to call Chris and I told him about it and he remembered and I asked if he was still interested and he said yes! About 8 weeks or so later, he is baptized and confirmed!! Miracles!! I love it!

The 5 baptisms that we've had since I've been in the Branch have been,

-Ethan taught by the Princeton Sisters. (I baptized him)

-Judy taught by the Princeton Sisters & Princeton Elders baptized her.

-Trudy taught by us and I baptized her.

-Tim taught by us and Elder Roney baptized him.

-Chris taught by the Princeton Elders & Princeton Sisters baptized him. Elder Roney baptized him.

We are looking to have about 2 more from the Princeton Sisters and hopefully Matt can be baptized by Elder Roney & Elder Openshaw this coming Transfer.

Love- Elder Cottam

Leaving Marion.....

March 10, 2014

Hey Friends and Family!!

It's been a crazy week, but I've loved every minute of it. Especially with Transfers. Haha. I'm moving to Green Hills, TN!! I'm super excited. My new companion will be Elder Harris. I've never met him before, but I look forward or serving with him. It's sad to leave Elder Roney and it's sad to leave Marion, but I know he will do a great job and I know the area of Marion will really move forward. It's been a fun couple months. I'm so grateful that I had so much support from the amazing Princeton Branch. I took lots of pictures with them yesterday and said my goodbyes. I've really come to love each and everyone of them. I'm so excited for the progress their making and I'm so blessed to be apart of moving the work forward. I wish them the best. I would love to come back and see all the progress. I know that I would be blown away!! Anyways, can't explain too much about this week cause I've been slacking on writing to you guys personally and writing letters, so I'll just talk about the main people we visited.

Tim & Trudy: The first converts in the Marion area. I love them to death. They have made so much progress in the Church. They are learning more and more each day and they know that it's true. They're meeting more and more people in the Branch. They love it. Hopefully Elder Roney & Elder Openshaw baptize their son Matt soon. I can't wait to come back in a year and go through the Temple with them!! I'm not sure if I can, but I would love it if I could!!

Bill: We have made a lot of progress with him and he still has such a strong testimony of the Gospel. We love him. He is so kind. We have helped him overcome some fears and he is really progressing. He just got a car, so now he should come to Church pretty regularly. His health isn't that great, but it's slowly getting better.

Seldon: We always have really powerful lessons with him, but he won't pray to know if it's true. He has said to us that he will pray one day, but it's just scared right now. Hopefully Elder Roney can help him understand that this Church is true. Hopefully he prays soon. We love him!

Dylan: Dylan is an awesome guy. He is 18 and lives with his parents. He is very knowledgeable about the Bible and he really finds the Book of Mormon interesting. We have been talking to him about the importance of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. So far he is reading a little bit and likes it. He loves having us over and we love coming over.

This is only 5 out of about 10 main people we are teaching. We love  each and everyone of them. Each one is progressing at their own pace.  Besides the 10 main people, we have a bunch of potentials and a couple  of Less-Active Members we're meeting with. I love it! So many people.  So many wonderful experiences. I wish you could be here with me. I  wish you could experience everything I'm going through. I know that  you would love it! Talking about Jesus Christ is one of the greatest  things anyone could do. I'm having so much fun. I'm learning more than  I ever thought possible. Thank you for all that you've done. Your  support means the world to me. Keep the letters/ emails coming. I'm  doing my best to respond. I love you guys. I miss you. Have a great  week!!

-Love Elder Cottam

Sent from my iPad

Pictures

Elder Cottam and Elder Roney

Elder Roney baptized Chris on Sunday March 8th!

Elder Cottam's iPad mini!

Email on Sunday

I got this email on Sunday from Sister Ahrens.  I love when I get info about my son from the members of Kentucky!

This is the young man Chris who was baptized

 today thanks to Elder Cottam.

Elder Cottam is being Transferred on Tuesday!

We just got a text from one Elder Cottam's branch members.  He is being transferred on Tuesday to Green Hill, Tennessee.  Green Hill is about 19 miles outside of Nashville.  He is sad to leave Marion Kentucky, but as you read in his last letter, he had a feeling it was coming. 

We know the people of Green Hill will LOVE him!