I watched the Super Bowl at a mission buddy's house this past Sunday. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and watch a game that I haven't seen in two years.

Though I love college football, I'm normally not one for NFL games. I feel that NFL players are over payed and underachievers normally. But I have to say, Sunday's games was probably one of the best games that I have seen. It was very exciting and could have gone either way at any time. Too bad the Cardinals lost, though they had plenty of opportunities to pull it off, they just couldn't capitalize.

What I REALLY missed though was the Ads that are run during the game. There are always the best ads run during the game, and this year was no exception. They ranged from the hilarious, to the overly scandalous, to the awesome. I'm really excited about the movie teasers for the new Transformers and G.I. Joe movies.

In case you missed the ads, I've included a widget to the ads on hulu. It looks like they are carrying all of the ads.. brought to you by.. other ads, that's right. Enjoy!

It sure is nice to have a transparent President of the United States. Be him Democrat or Republican. Say what you will about him, it's about time we have a President that keeps us in the loop. I hope and pray for good things to come from him. This country definitely needs it.

This holiday seasons has reminded me that there are many wonderful people in Georgia and back at home in Ohio that I love and miss and need to contact. I wanted to tell you about how I have been doing since being home. I have been home from my mission now for a little over two months. Life off the mission has definitely been interesting, but certainly not easy. I spent about a month at home, living with my Mom and enjoying being around family and friends, catching up on their lives and sharing my mission experiences with them. I enjoyed the Thanksgiving holiday with them and realized just how much I missed my Mom's traditional Thanksgiving feast!

After a period of time, I began a search for employment to no avail. The economy hit Ohio pretty hard, so jobs were hard to come by. During this time, I was pondering on what I could do and felt the distinct impression that I needed to be in Salt Lake City, UT. I have learned from so many experiences on the mission that when the Lord commands, do it, so I have, otherwise you are on your own for guidance and forfeit the blessings He wants to provide to you. I've been in Utah now for about almost a month and can already feel the blessings flow from following the commandment given. I feel happier, more secure with my situation and stronger in my devotion and faith. (I did come home for Christmas though, I think my Mom would have disowned me if I didn’t). Over the weekend, I moved into an apartment. It's not much, but I have what I need and I'll be able to get 'luxuries' later.

I realized, over the holidays, just how important and cherished my missionary service during Christmas was to me. It was always so much more difficult to spread the gospel during the holidays because people always had other places to be or things to be doing, but it was amazing to help spread Holiday cheer and teach the true Spirit of Christmas. I was fortunate enough to participate in the purest and simplest gift-giving of the holidays, that of rendering help and serve. I am now seeking ways to do the same thing now that I am off my mission and I would challenge you, as well, to find ways to share the message of the Savior and His divine love to those around you and to help them feel the love and joy of the Savior, each and every day of the year. I just want you to know, that I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Lord's true Church once again established on the earth.I know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.I know that the only way to true joy and happiness in this life and the life to come is found only through the gospel of Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on our behalf. I know that the peace and joy felt by all, during the holiday seasons is in fact the Spirit of God and that can be felt year 'round by all who follow the commandments of God.

I love and miss the great people that I left behind in Ohio and Georgia. I truly miss all of the wonderful experiences that I had in Georgia during my missionary service. I hope I made a difference and touched as many lives and touched mine.

I apologize for waiting so long for a blog update since I've been home. I need to do better at keeping everyone informed and keeping on contact.

I just wanted to post a quick note and let everyone know that Danny will be coming home on Wednesday!

I'm sure he'll update everyone when he returns :D

Posted by: Jon

Hey everyone! I pretty much just copied what I wrote to my Mom and sent it to you, hopefully you can follow along well enough. I don't have much time to elaborate on some things.

This was a crazy week! Early in the week, I watched as Elder Parker left for Macon and then on to home. It reminded me so much that I'm not too far behind and it's a crazy thought. I already miss him and can only look forward to talking to him and seeing him again soon. I worked with Elder Rice and Elder McKee (the other companionship in the apartment) the rest of the week, while we waited for Transfer Meeting on Friday.

Friday was Transfer Meeting. Pres. Bowman wanted to try a different setup than Pres. Evanson had previously implemented. Instead of using members to take us all up to Macon to meet, we met in three different places and we used the mission vehicles. When we got to the meeting, no one knew what was going on. Even though I didn't even know, I stepped up to help out as much as I could. Everything eventually worked out though, so I guess I can't complain.

My new companion is Elder Stoddard from Penryn, CA. He's a great guy and he'll keep me working all the way up until I head home. I found out earlier in the week, but on Friday, we officially took over another Zone, doubling our size. We are now in charge of 15 missionary companionships in like 8 cities around south Georgia. What that means is a LOT more work! We'll be gone at least one day a week (sometimes more) being in other areas, helping the work. The pressure will also still be on us to baptize and serve in Albany. Two more Elders were put in Albany, also, bringing the number to 6. With the traveling, we've been given more miles to cover such a large area & Zone.

I was really frustrated by all of the changes, especially since we've been totally left in the dark as to the changes until the minute we need to act. I didn't even get a phone call about our Zone doubling until Saturday morning, the day after I NEEDED to know... but the phone call from Pres. Bowman was actually really nice. He counciled with me and took my opinion and advice on matters related to such a large Zone. Then he paid me a compliment, telling me that I should look at this responsibility and added work as a measure of what he feels about me and my capabilities. It was nice to hear that, because previously he pretty much ignored me.

We also moved apartments. Because the other 4 Elders will be sharing a car it made no sense for us to live with one of those sets as we had previously done and required them to drive across town to exchange the car. We moved in where the Senior Sisters previously lived. It's a MUCH nicer place and we got all of the best furniture too! We spent part of Friday night and Saturday trying to get the apartment organized and then we spent a terrible amount of time on Saturday planning for the next six weeks. Since we have 4 District Leaders that report to us, it was almost a nightmare trying to get coordinated with them.

Yesterday was a good day, we kind of took it easy, seeing a couple of members and then going out to the Bishop's so the new missionaries could get to know the family.

Today, we're running a little late, because a member took us to WalMart today and bought us all kinds of things that we needed for the apartment (and groceries too). She spent over $400 on us. We tried to just buy what we needed and get the cheap stuff, but every time we did that, she would tell us to buy the nice stuff. It was so nice, as we would've had almost nothing without her. She kept telling us not to worry about it, because her and her husband were sitting really comfortably and this wouldn't even put a dent into their budget. It was like Christmas... but we barely splurged... except for some ice cream!

This week will be very busy. We leave tonight for Tifton, to catch a ride tomorrow to Macon for our Zone Leader meeting. That will take all day and we won't be home until late tomorrow. Then Wednesday we'll spend most of the day preparing for 2 almost identical meetings that we'll have to conduct on Thursday, one in Albany and one in Thomasville, GA. With all of the travel and meeting time, the whole day will be spent. Hopefully we'll get some time to see some people this week in between meetings and such. My last 12 weeks are going to fly right on by at this rate.

That's all for here.

Posted by: Jon