Greetings from the Utah Orem side of the Utah Provo Mission! Yes, I'll admit it. I'm having a hard time accepting the name "Utah Orem Mission". Anyways, this morning at 8:00 a.m. our mission divided right on the Provo-Orem line. Orem consists of north Utah County, stops at Point Of The Mountain on the east side of I-15, however continues on past the point on the west side of I-15 tracing up to Herriman, Bluffdale, and Riverton. The Mt. Timpanogos temple is the only temple in the Utah Orem Mission! The Utah Provo Mission will keep its original boundaries but expand south in several directions. It will be acquiring Price, Nephi, Mona, and Moab. The UPM
will have the Provo Mtn, Provo City Center, Payson, and Vernal temples within its boundaries. The Manti temple will just be outside of the boundaries, much like Oquirrh Mtn and Jordan River are just outside of the Orem boundaries. Crazy stuff happening! Me, as well as 96 others from the Utah Provo Mission are leading the pack as far as being the first missionaries ever in the Utah Orem Mission. Ya...we have bragging rights.

So over the course of last week was Strawberry Days here in PG. One of the biggest community events of the year. There was this huge carnival set up in town that had tons of people and little shops to check out. It was a great contacting tool! We got a few referrals from it! Also, if you haven't tried strawberries and cream, I recommend you do so now.

So last Tuesday, I was talking to Jason R. from Spanish Fork, UT and he and his Priests were coming up to American Fork, UT to have a celebratory dinner for one of the priests, Dallin,who left on his mission to Indianapolis, Indiana last Wednesday! Jason wanted us to come with them since I was really close with him and the priest quorum...so we went! It was a lot of fun! It was nice to talk and hang out like the good 'ol days.

So on Thursday we went to the Pleasant Grove Rodeo! Now, you gotta understand that I LOVE rodeos! Elder Doherty and I went to one like every week in SF. They are so much fine and the environment and vibe is just fun! To compare it, it's almost like going to NASCAR race. People are fun, the music is crazy, and the only difference is they aren't drunk because we are in Utah! So in this rodeo, there was this famous rodeo clown that would come every year! He was a crackup! At one point, he had this horse that he was messing around with. Talk about the tamest horse ever! He had it do yoga (put its face down and legs extended forward), it had it roll on its back and he sat on it, raised his front arms up like pretend motorcycle handles and pretended to "ride" the horse. It was hilarious! After that, he jumped up on the horse now standing and it picked up his whip from the ground and
handed it to him with its mouth! It was awesome!

On Saturday, a guy who we had been working with who was excommunicated from the church was re-baptized in a member's pool! It was sweet! Once he was baptized and confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost
again, we could literally see a light emanating from him. It was so rewarding and humbling to see him re-enter the waters of baptism to make those sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father.

Fast forward! Now we're back to this past week! On Tuesday, the entire Orem portion of the Utah Provo Missionaries gathered together in AF to hear President McCune address us one last time. After that, each of us
had a few minutes to speak with President, Sis. McCune, and their son,Daniel. It was so rough. I love the McCune's! President is such a great man. He lead the Utah Provo Mission to great things over the past 3 years. It was truly a humbling experience to serve with him. I look forward to all of the reunions in the coming years! I'm going to all of them!

On Wednesday evening, we had the privilege of attending an Eagle Scout Court Of Honor for a member in one of our wards. Elder Leavitt and I had the privilege of sitting in the Eagle's Nest. The Scout Council Member for the area also happened to be the stake Young Men's President. So...go figure...he recognized our presence in the Eagle's Nest and he thanked us for setting a good example for the youth. Not that I'm bragging or anything, It's just cool for these boys to see two missionaries sitting up there. I would want each of them to reach that great accomplishment!

Sunday was probably the busiest day of the week! We attended the Ward Council of one of our YSA wards, stayed there all three hours, went to coordination meeting...and then things slowed down. We had dinner,
taught a lesson...THEN! we joined one of our recent converts in his conferral and ordination to the office of Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood! I've mentioned this individual in the past. It was so great to see him move forward with this! Now he has the opportunity to go in the temple and receive his endowments! We're super excited
for him!

Okay...my fingers are wore out now....that does it for this weeklyemail x2! Until next week!

Love you all!

-Elder Ahrens