E.T. Phone Home!

Well this week we were able to call or Skype with our family! That was amazing and definitely needed! I honestly thought that after I got done with talking to my family that I would be Home sick and kind of depressed but it was the total opposite! I was more motivated and I have received more strength to keep pushing forward in the Lords work! I am so thankful for Christs birth even though it really wasn't on Christmas day but still! Imagine if everybody treated each other everyday the same way they do to people on Christmas! The world would definitely be a better place I can tell you that much!

Me and my companion have probably shoveled a total of 70 driveways at the least in the month of December! Haha Braxton has a huge mountain to climb everyday and I have 70 driveways to shovel, I think that evens it out between me and him..... Yeah probably not, the mountain is to big for my fatness! Haha what amazing stories we are going to have after our missions! Braxton is in Africa along with Jaiden, Kyle is in Flaming Florida, Gavin is in Portland Oregon and Jake is in Sweden (I think), and I am in Alaska! That is going to be one crazy day when we all get together! Well the work is picking up a lot here in Whitehorse! We have more investigators and more Lessons! I love it up here!

BYEEEEEE!!!!!

    - Coach Johnson

 ( that one was for you Braxton)

Well today is a great day to be a missionary! Love you Guys and I hope you all have one amazing New Year, Make 2014 a good one and one that you will always remember! 

Love 

Elder Chad Russell

Alaska Anchorage Mission

Whitehorse Canada

It's cold in Alaska!

Christmas picture

Okay so mom! This is going to be a kind of short email because welll...... I will be seeing you on Wednesday!!! Haha cant wait! I will send some pictures! We saw -40 this week! Skagway was way awesome! I love you mom!

Zone Conference Juneau Alaska

Northern Lights!

Love shoveling snow!

So this week has been pretty busy! 

Elder Ballard told us that if we as a companionship talk to 20 new people a day, we will double the baptisms in the mission! So me and Elder Hayes were like, alright how are we going to do this, we are driving all over the place, and not walking. Its a lot easier to have conversations while you are walking. So me and Elder Hayes sent out a mass text to everyone in the Branch, saying that we need 2 snow shovels. And of course we got 2 snow shovels. So when we are driving around and we see people that are shoveling there driveway, we stop the truck and get out and help them shovel! We shoveled 15 driveways that day! Yeah I am pretty soar! Haha but what a difference it makes in others lives! 

We finally got a new investigator and we found her through a member and the story goes. Our new investigator was walking down the street on a Sunday morning about 30 minutes before church started and one of the members pulled over and asked if she needed a ride and so she got in the car. And then the member asked where she wanted to go, and she said that she was just walking to that church at the end of the street, I thought I should check it out! What a Miracle! We had a lesson with her yesterday and she wants to meet with us next Sunday! Oh how much I love doing the working of the Lord! It is a great day to be a missionary!

Love you all, and always follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit, because if we don't then we will miss an opportunity to share the Gospel with someone! 

Elder Russell

Alaska Anchorage Mission

Yukon Territory/ Skagway Alaska

Ferry broke down but we went there on a bush plane!!!!

I am Feeling a ton better! Haha it feels sooooo nice up here it warmed up to 14 degrees and that is really really rare up here in the Yukon! So lucky me and not so much luck for you! Yeah about the members up here in Whitehorse.... President is not to happy with  their efforts! ummm that is all that I am going to say about that! Elder Hayes is doing great! You are going to get a good laugh at this one. Elder Hayes is from Las Vegas! So when people ask where I am from I say guess and they  of course guess Utah, they actually don't say Utah, they say Oh so you are from the Factory Eh? And then they ask Elder Hayes and he says Las Vegas! The People are Shocked! That is one awesome story about Corey and Brek! So Here is my crazzzzzzy week!  (The story about Corey and Brek is when they were headed to a family Christmas party they saw this man in a wheel chair shoveling his drive way so they pulled over and helped him finish it.)

So all this week has been traveling! OH and their are changes in the mission!

So to start off, Monday we get a call from our Mission President and he says I want you and the rest of the Elders up in Whitehorse to drive to Skagway (2 hour drive) and then Ferry to Juneau, we are sending you down here for Interviews! So on Tuesday we started Packing and then we get a call from President Beesley again and he said that the Ferry is broken..... ( I thought that  we were not going but)... since the Ferry is broken we are flying you down to Juneau!!!!!! Me and Elder Hayes were Jumping up and down because we were soooo excited!!! President asked if we could do that and we said YESSSS! So Wednesday morning we Drive down to Skagway and we take a Bush Plane From Skagway to Juneau! So instead of going on a ferry and having it be 6 to 8 hours it was only 45 min! We get to Juneau and then we unpack and we go to the church and we had a training like usual! Then we had Interviews on Thursday, and during the Interviews President told me that me and Elder Hayes will not only be serving in Whitehorse but we will also be serving in Skagway!!! (Skagway usually is only open during the summer because of all the tourists)( and we are only 2 weeks into the transfer)! He said that we will be living in the church in Skagway! That was way awesome! So Me and Elder Hayes are going to stay pretty busy This transfer! Then on Friday morning we Flew back to Skagway, and president told us to stay in skagway until Sunday and stay for church then leave after church! So on Friday and Saturday we went and knocked on a bunch of doors! We handed out about 30 Joy to the World DVDs and about 12 Books of Mormon! So that is how my week went! 

Love Elder Russell

Alaska Anchorage Mission

Whitehorse Yukon/ Skagway! 

OH And we saw the Aurora Borealis Yesterday!!!!! It was so Amazing!

I have the FLU:(

Sooo This week has been pretty tough! Well I will just start it off by saying that I had the flu! I did have thanksgiving though but I did not eat much! The positive thing is that I have lost like 15 pounds! I have been having fevers and all that good stuff! Sadly that is pretty much all I did this week was throw up! Sorry! But I am feeling a lot better today! Love You all!