Elder Carson John Cozzens Mission Blog

 March 20, 2023 How's it going everyone? Sorry I didn't get an email out last week, it was a really busy P-day! Long story short I hiked Camelback, which is basically the biggest "mountain" in the area. I should say I climbed it, because it was definitely a climb.  The last 2 weeks have absolutely flown by, there is only 1 week left in the first transfer! It is crazy to think I will only get about 17 transfers or so in my mission, and I am already almost done with the first. So much has happened, I don't even really know where to start. I don't remember half of it either to be honest, there is just so much! I play a lot of basketball on P days and then the rest of my week is spent speeding around on our bikes contacting people or teaching some lessons. We don't get a ton of service requests here. We have really been focusing on improving the member support here in Mountain Shadows and slowly but surely we are getting there! The members are beginning ...

 March 6, 2023 What is going on people? A lot happened this week, and man did it fly by. It's crazy to think that its been 6 weeks already. About 98 left or so 😂 Everyone talks about how their missions go by really fast. If mine is already flying by, then it is REALLY going to go by fast once I start hitting the 3 and 6 month marks, its kinda sad.  This week we definitely worked our butts off, like every week, but we didn't see as much success. It seemed like almost everyone we talked with either wasn't interested or they just wanted to argue. We were talking to this one dude and we told him we talk about Jesus Christ. He then went on a 25 minute rant about how the United States was founded by White Supremicist Apologist pedophiles. Totally related. We had a lot of people with some crazy ideas this week, honestly hearing most of them my companion and I would just laugh at how crazy they sound. Especially when they try to disprove the Book of Mormon 😂   Going to the...

 February 27, 2023 Gooood morrrrrnninggg people! Or good night? Depends on when you read this. But hi! Hope you are all doing fantastic and some of you better be enjoying the snow back home. It's been 60-70 most of the week here 😎😂 Anyways, this week went by really fast, there were some long days but it feels like yesterday that I was typing an email again hahahaha.  A lot happened, but one key moment(s) is that we found like 15 people again this week but we prayed every day to find genuine people who are legitimately interested. We definitely found some. 3 or 4 seem to be genuine. One dude crossed 5 lanes of traffic in downtown Scottsdale to come tell us he appreciated what we do, and that he wants to learn more and be a better individual. His name is Nolan, and he is super cool! He's pretty young so we will have to refer him to the YSA ward but I look forward to getting to know him better. We also have 2 older Sisters where 1 is praying over a baptismal date and the othe...

 February 20, 2023 What is up people, get ready for a roller coaster ride 😂 So I'm finally here in Scottsdale, and it's been pretty great so far. The day we arrived was super chill. We just flew in, ate a bunch of good food and called my family. That night, it was not chill at all hahaha. We went on mini exchanges right off the bat with missionaries throughout the mission, and I got put into downtown Phoenix for the night. That was an exciting night. Hahaha. A lot of...interesting stuff happened 😂 The next day I got to my area and trainer, who is Elder Grant! He's a great guy and he is teaching me so much. I actually know his cousins, the Orme's! We went to high school together. Also our area is Mountain Shadows so it's right next to the mission home and all that. It's also a biking area so I'm doing lots of that, and I'm loving it, it's super fun. We had to stuff 8 Elders in our apartment for 2 days because of bad weather up in the mountains delay...

 February 13, 2023 What's going on everyone! Elder Cozzens is back with an absolute banger of an episode tonight. It's hard to believe, but I'm in Arizona already! It feels like I just got to the MTC, and like I opened my call yesterday, but we are already 3 weeks in. On Tuesday we had a member of the 70 come and give us a devotional which was super cool and spiritual. A cool and funny story, some of the Elders in my branch figured out how to bypass the firewalls in the MTC network and access Google so we were able to keep track with the Super Bowl score, hehehe. Anyways, I already knew my comp Elder Jensen was good at music, but wow is he cracked! He got his guitar this week, and he can't even read music, but he can literally just make something up on the spot and make it sound good 😂 . Also let me roll my MTC experience into a nutshell. It is a very special place and has a very special spirit. I was able to have lots of crazy experiences with personal revelation an...

February 6, 2023 What's up Everyone! I'm not really quite sure where to start, this week was a pretty wild one. I got into the Provo MTC this week which was pretty good. I'm with my district in person which is probably one of the best things right now. But I am absolutely LOVING the MTC and the mission life right now. I am learning so much every day. Some things I am learning the hard way though, haha. The Spirit here is very special and very strong. Moving on, I was assigned as the District Leader! I wasn't quite sure if I was right for the job but I'm definitely getting used to it. Everyone kinda feels like my little kiddos. Even though I'm younger than most of them 😂 But I am very grateful for the opportunity to serve my friends and fellow missionaries as their DL.  I have had a lot of spiritual experiences already, some of which are reaaallly crazy. I've had some super cool personal revelation and all that jazz. One thing I have learned is that my...

 January 30, 2023 Hello Everyone! Elder Cozzens, your favorite 6'5" missionary here. I hope this email finds you all in good times. But most importantly, I hope it finds you at all! This being the first email and all it is kind of trial and error, but I hope it all works out. Anyways, this has been a week I will never forget for my entire life, that is for sure. So much has happened I'm not quite sure where to start, but I will do my best! Home MTC has been an absolute banger of an experience. My District is completely off the charts, each and every one of them are just so cool, inspiring, and faithful. I have learned so much from them in this last week than I did in a term at seminary...Which was probably my own fault hehehe. But my companion, Elder Jensen! Bro. He is absolutely amazing. He has such a strong testimony, and I know that Heavenly Father paired me with him for a reason, as well as the rest of my district. I know Elder Jensen and I will be close friends for ...