It was kind of an out of the ordinary week this week. Which I guess isn't always a bad thing. Starting Monday, I was on exchange with Elder Upshaw who is in his second transfer. Elder Mathis went with Elder Yeske (who is the District Leader and who I trained nearly 18 Months ago!) in Whitehall. While at Dairy Queen for dinner (as always), I asked Elder Upshaw to think of a Western State besides Arizona, and Texas. He replied, "Washington" which was the same state that came to my mind! So that was the street we decided to tract haha! And we found out why. After only about 7 doors we knocked on an elderly lady's door. her name is Marcy Busch. She let us in her home and we taught her the Restoration. Turns out this lady is an ELDER in the Presbyterian church! Not sure what all that entails but needless to say she has position in that sect. By the end of the lesson she accepted baptism and agreed to read the Book of Mormon! She said she believed the first vision and it made sense that God would bring forth another testament. So sweet! We weren't able to lay down a return appointment, so please be praying for her!
Tuesday we actually attended a funeral for a
lady in the ward that developed Alzheimers. Her husband is not a member
and probably 75% of the people there were not members either! During the
luncheon, Harvey and Boots showed up and sat with Elder Upshaw and I.
Valerie (their daughter) was also there and I guess she put in only a
few names into Family Search and chased their history back to the
1500's! That got Harvey excited and we're probably going to go over
today to help him set up an account. Tuesday afternoon we had an
appointment with Kyle Haunz (the college student we tracted into last
week). He is struggling to understand the Book of Mormon, so we read the
introduction with him and read Alma 40 about life after death (which he
has interests about). He said he would come to church Sunday at 11:00
if the Packers weren't playing...the Packers played at exactly 11 -__-
I
fasted this week for Harvey and Boots. We showed a video called "Your
Potential, Your Privileges" about a man who saved up all his money to go
on this cruise to the Mediterranean Sea. To help save money he ate only
beans and crackers. He finds out at the end of the cruise that all the
food, activities, and parties were all included in the prince of the
ticket. President Uchtdorf then relates that to how we often live
beneath our privileges as children of our Heavenly Father. With Harvey
we wanted to relate that to family history. Family History is sweet but
there is so much more too it like Temple work! Unfortunately, we weren't
able to help him see that connection so we're working on something
else. Keep praying for them!
Most of our week
consisted of knocking on doors and trying to find people. We have taught
several first lessons to people but no one seems to be willing to set
up a return appointment. It's always, "yeah you can stop by if she can
catch me at home." I know for a fact you have an opening in your
schedules people! Kind of frustrating. We've met some great potentials
though all from tracting. One lady we taught the whole restoration to on
her doorstep and invited her to be baptized right there! Another lady
was a geologist and did not believe in God. We discussed what the Holy
Ghost felt like and why those assurances are what keep us grounded in
faith and hope. Our last appointment was with a referral we received
from the Bishop. The Hanson family was in New Zealand where they were
actually met by Jeanne Breakall from Sheridan Ward on her mission! They
live in Dillon and we went over to do a lot of Q & A. There were
many concerns about temples, Grace vs. Works, ect. but by the end we
came to one conclusion...the temples, the Word of Wisdom, the entire
Doctrine and Covenants, the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, and
anything else we as LDS people believe is absolutely false if Joseph
Smith was not a Prophet of God. The real questions and concerns we have
about the doctrine hinges on whether Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God.
So the Hansons decided they need to simply read the Book of Mormon and
pray about Joseph Smith! The Gospel is so simple and true! Please pray
for them, they are such awesome people!
Yesterday
we traveled up to Twin Bridges to see that family who's baby I had the
opportunity to bless. We discussed how miracles happen (Moroni 7) and
WHY they happen. That baby was running around happy as ever and healthy!
She is blind but you would never know. This family was so touched by
the spirit that they are going to church Sunday,
and are going to begin taking the discussions! So exciting. We also
explained that nothing I did was special. The Priesthood, the faith of
those present and God's will were the factors in saving the baby and we
testified the baby was saved to help their family be an eternal one. So
cool!
I can't believe Alex is home. Stoked to
hear he applied to Summer semester though! And yes, if he could find out
about the Potato farm, that would be awesome. It doesn't sound
particularly fun, but I need a good paying job! Elder Organ (whom I came
out with) is also going to do some research on it for me.
Pictures:
Hope
everyone has a great week! I am starting to freak out that I have less
than three weeks left but I'm going to make it as busy as possible! I
love you all!
I thought this was a genius way to prevent water from getting on the floor when using a cooler!
And this is an ice sculpture in Dillon...made from broken pipes :)
