[8/11/2014] Week 75: Are We Not All Beggars?

Austin Goodwin, a super cool hippie in the
ward, who drives and cherishes his
Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

I ran out of time (you'll shortly discover why), so here is my letter to President, recycled:

"This week, we found Bonnie. She was invited to church by her friend, Taylor, and she loved it! Since last Sunday, she has attended Ward Home Evening, the ward's Summer Blowout activity, and the mission Cottage Meeting. We taught her the Restoration before the Blowout activity and she loved it! She was raised a Buddhist in Korea, but is here in Washington to further her education and has, as a result, had the opportunity to broaden her spiritual horizons! After praying and asking Heavenly Father for truth, she described feeling "more peaceful than when [she goes] to Buddhist temple". She feels strongly that God led her to us, and is excited by the prospect of being baptized for the remission of her sins, but expressed concern, saying, "I might have to do it in secret because if my family learns that I am a Mormon, they will expel me [from the family].

"I had the privilege of spending a day with Elder Christensen in Silver Lake YSA this week. You'll read more details on the exchange form, but I really admire the sincerity of his teaching and testifying. There is some real power in that missionary.

Enrique Castro, a super cool member of the ward.

"Well, I was side-tracked just now for about twenty minutes by a man who walked into the family history center looking to borrow fifty dollars to get to Eugene, Oregon by bus. I called the transient bishop, though I was pretty sure he is only able to help baptized members of the Church, and Bishop Burton affirmed that. He asked if he could borrow the money from us (Elder Haupu and I and about four other missionaries), to which we responded that we couldn't, for our money is from sacred tithing funds. He asked for a ride to the bus station in North Everett, but we told him we couldn't help him there either for insurance purposes. It was tough, because I wanted to help, but I felt like we really couldn't do anything. We did inform him of job training through Deseret Industries down in Shoreline, but he wasn't interested in that. How do you suggest missionaries handle this type of situation?"

I did receive letters from Dad, Seth, and even Sister Thornock, but I did not receive a package. But now you've got my hopes up!

I can't believe Margo is fourteen now! Happy birthday, Marg-Schmarg! Now you can go to dances. But you still can't dance with anyone. Seth will see to it that the boys don't even think about it.