This weeks email from Elder Lisonbee is awesome

"Dear Family, Wow I do not know how to describe how amazing this week has been. To start we were able to go and had four meals we got fed every meal plus one more. It was hard to finish all but was an awesome thanksgiving. We had an amazing turn out this week we went to share with Nick he already started to invite people to listen to our message. He invited his friend named Royce and he really looked up to nick a lot. he already introduced the restoration to him and he was reading it when we walked in the door. They were so opened to learn more. He also invited this lady named Janet to come hear of the message, and she was a recovering alcoholic. We had a bible study we than referred Janet to the sisters and they went to visit her and said they had an amazing lesson with her. When Janet left we really felt like we needed to teach Nick and Royce the law of Chasity and the word of wisdom. He than right after the lesson we made a promise with nick that he would feel more of the happiness that he was already feeling if he made the sacrifice to give up smoking. Nick got rid of his cigarettes right on the spot he didn't even want his lighter he even agreed to give up drinking. He said he would just stick to his herbal tea. He made it a goal to be ready to enter the waters of Baptism in December Nick wanted to be baptized as well. We came back the next day and nick told us it has been hard he was eating a lot of lolly pops to take his mind of smoking. He said it has been weird changing his routine. We introduced the stop smoking work shop to help he said he has quit before he is going to end his addiction. It was a really cool experience to see the great desire Nick has to grow closer to his father in heaven every assignment we have given him he started reading. He has been such a cool example and given up so much so that he can grow closer to our father in heaven. If yall could pray for Nick to help him continue to stay away from his addiction to smoking so he can be baptized in December. It was such a cool experience to see how our Father in Heaven will guide us to his children who are ready to hear of the gospel for he has a plan for all of us. I love my father in heaven so much. I know that as we strive to grow closer to him we will find a happiness greater than we have ever had. I love you guys and pray for nick and Royce so they can overcome and be ready to enter the waters of Baptism. love you guys have an awesome week Elder Lisonbee"

Happy Birthday to Mom!!!

Happy Birthday to the Woman who taught me Responsibility, Integrity, and how to stand on my own two feet. Anna Mae Nichols was born in Harlem, New York and had a heart of gold but was tough as nails. She raised 3 boys (Gregory, Jeffrey and Stephen) in the South Bronx during the hardest times in New York City History. Moving from an abandon building on the Grand Concourse to Patternson Project in the late 1970's she did whatever it took to take care of her 3 boys. In the midst of Gangs, Prostitution, Drug Dealers, and Drug abusers she was determined to see that each of her boys recieved their High Schoold Diplomas and become productive citizens. I will forever be grateful to this woman because she never would let me quit or give up on myself or on my dreams. I remember when I was 19yrs old in Boot Camp and I was having a hard time adjusting and wanted to quit and come back home. After two weeks the Navy finally allowed me to call home and I told her that I was quiting and was tired of those white people telling me what to do. She told me that day.."There was nothing for me to go back for or to". She reminded me that day that she didnt raise "Weak Ass Kids or punks"..lol..4 Real. She told me that day...If I could deal with the street of the South Bronx and Harlem...there was nothing in the world that should be able to stop me. And I have to tell you "She Was 100% Right". Because of Anna Nichols I am the man I am today...I never bowed, feared, or felt less than any man. Thank you Mrs. Annna Mae Nichols....You will never be forgotten! R.I.P Mommy......I love you with all my heart. 10325766_10203905241538512_1280943631689819954_n

Yes, it was worth it

faceWhen I finished my 8th grade at the one room Butcher School and started my 9th grade at University School, close to the IU campus in Bloomington, Indiana, it was a whole new ball game. Up until now, every day at school I spent the whole time in 1 room with 1 teacher. One teacher taught all the subjects. Now, I would be in one room with a teacher teaching 1 subject for about 1 hour, then I would rush around trying to find the next room to spend 1 hour with another teacher teaching a different subject. Sometimes, I was as lost as a goose. In between you had to try to work the combination on your locker to get it open. My 2 favorites were gym class and shop class. During my 4 years in high school, being a country kid going to a city school, I never felt like I ever fit in. One class we were required to take was biology. To me, this class was as boring as watching paint dry. I spent a lot of time daydreaming. I wasn't interested in naming different parts of a plant, or collecting bugs to stick on pins and put in a cigar box. How I got though all this, I have no idea. One time we studied how to identify trees that grew in our area. For the final test, the teacher took us on a field trip in some woods on campus to identify trees. The teacher would go to a tree, and we would walk to him, one at a time, and whisper to him what kind of tree it was. We looked at a lot of trees. When it was over I was the only one that got them all right. The teacher may have thought he had finally taught me something. I didn't tell anyone, but everything I knew about trees, I learned from my dad. This day was important for a couple of reasons. In 4 years of high school I finally got a 100% on a test, and was at the top of my class for for while. The main reason I wanted to graduate high school was, that's what my mom wanted. In 1956, I walked across that stage in the IU Auditorium wearing that silly looking cap and gown and got my paper saying I graduated high school, the look on my mom's face told me I had done good.Yes, it was worth it.