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| Conrad and Kaylin with me and Elder Benedict |
This was a good week. It was filled with lots of service and a good amount of small miracles.
I have been striving daily to be a better missionary for the
Lord and leader for my district. I receive a lot of support from the zone
leaders, Elders Stack and Parke, in helping me develop and grow. I feel their
love for me and I try to reciprocate that same love to the other missionaries
in my district. I really do feel a connection to the Thomas Lake elders and the
Eastmont sisters; I want them to see success in their areas and recognize the
Lord's hand in all things. This is certainly a result of serving them and
helping them learn. Though, I must admit, I learn just as much from each of
them.
We had two investigators at church yesterday - Tami and
Jeff. Our lesson with Tami on Tuesday went really, really well. She expressed
to us that she has been talking with a lot of friends - some who are pastors
- about her decision to investigate the
Church. They have responded with interesting ideas about the Church and its
members, but she put her foot down and stood up for the Church, saying she
knows Mormons now and that they're really good Christian people. Yesterday, a
return missionary gave a fantastic talk on baptism, and it was something that
Tami and Jeff really needed to hear. We honestly think it's just a matter of
time before Tami has a testimony of the Book of Mormon and decides to be
baptized.
We spend a lot of time on the rescue effort in this area. I
love that. For the most part, it is very rewarding to be able to invite the
Spirit back into people's lives that they might return to the fold. The Robinson's
are a heavy focus for us right now. They're an older couple baptized many years
ago, and then inactive for forty years, until recently. We've have determined
that their conversion was a social one, and have decided to re-teach them all
the lessons, as though investigators, with the Melchizedek priesthood and an
eternal temple marriage as our goal. That said, we had a fantastic lesson on
the Restoration with the Robinson's on Wednesday, and we even had Brother
Paskett, their active member fellowshipper, present! One of Brother Robinson's
hang-ups is that "you can't ask God for big things" like whether the
Book of Mormon is true or whether Joseph Smith was the prophet who restored the
true Church of Jesus Christ. But we taught him all kinds of example from the
scriptures where people asked God for big things and were blessed immensely.
Such examples included the story of the Brother of Jared and the stones (Ether
2-3) and, of course, the story of the First Vision (Joseph Smith--History
1:5-20). In response to the latter, he said, "Gee, I've never heard that
story before..." We committed him to pray about Joseph Smith and will
follow up shortly. He had sort of a hard time saying yes, so we'll see how it
goes.
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| Conrad and daughter, Ashlyn |
The absolute highlight of my week was being able to attend
Conrad's baptism. You may already know that he moved from Seattle Hill to
Shoultes while I was serving in Shoultes. So it was great to be able to drive
up with the bishop of the Seattle Hill ward, the man who married Conrad to his
wife, Kaylin, and witness this great guy's baptism. We also had the opportunity
to see Kaylin's step-mom, who is investigating in the Seattle Hill ward, this
past week and invite her to the baptism. She attended as well. I can't wait for
this time next year when Conrad and Kaylin are able to be sealed eternally to
each other and to their baby, Ashlyn!
I think it's awesome that the trucks are coming together.
I'm so excited!
Brandon comes home next month. That's insane! I can't wait
to hear all his crazy stories!
In the past week, I've had the opportunity to show people
pictures of Christian and they all scream and yell and howl because of his
"striking resemblance to Matt Damon/Jason Bourne". So funny.
How is everythnig going in the ward back home? Well, I hope.
Keep me updated!
Love,
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| My brother, Christian and me |
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