Letter #5

So this last week was really great. We had some sunshine a couple times. Actually, we had quite a bit of sun for Washington. There wasn't a cloud in the sky on Saturday or Sunday, so they were absolutely beautiful days. In the right parts of town, there was a really good view of Mt. Rainier, which you can't usually see because of clouds. One of the best things about the people in Washington is that none of them take the sunshine for granted. Every time we get a sunny day, or even a sunny hour, everyone is out enjoying it, or talking about it with you at the door, or something like that. You just appreciate it way more when it isn't out all the time. It was so nice to have such a sunny Easter too. The sun is it's own little miracle out here, so it was just so wonderful.

Easter was a pretty awesome day. We didn't really have anything planned the day before, so we were mostly planning on knocking doors most of the day, especially since the weather was so nice. But when we went to church, our day pretty much filled up with other things. We eventually ended up helping some potential investigators move for most of the day. And that was a pretty weird situation. We got a call a couple of days ago from the APs saying that a recent convert in their ward who had a friend moving from a place in our ward to another place in our ward, and that we should call them to see if they needed any help. So that was an awkward phone call. "Hey, you don't know us, and we don't know you, but we do know that you are moving, and we want to help you out with that." But it did go well. We found out that we would be doing it on Sunday, and they are pretty awesome people. We didn't really do any teaching during that time, but service is really the best way you can connect with someone, and they trust us a lot more now if we do get an opportunity to teach them. We are going to visit them again on Wednesday, and they are going to cut our hair, so we are hoping to make something out of that time. There is a lot of potential out there, so we're going to do our part, and hopefully it all goes well. Worst case scenario, they are going to remember our service and be more open to the church in the future, or at least say good things about the church to their friends. Service is something that sticks with people.

Church yesterday was pretty crazy too. I was handing out programs, and getting to know people as they came into sacrament, and the second counsilor in the bishopric comes out and asks me to say the opening prayer. So I do that, and on the way back down, the bishop asks me to bless the sacrament, because the meeting had already started, and they were short people. After that, the bishop's wife gave a "talk" about her trip out to the Holy Land a couple of weeks ago (cool experience, but no actual doctrine...), and then the first counsilor in the bishopric shared some experiences that were deeply spiritual to him, but had no real punchline, so it was kinda lost on a lot of people. Okay, they were both pretty good talks, but they don't sound that good summarized, apparently. Anyway, after that we left, and ran into someone just outside the chapel who wanted us to give a blessing to her sick child. So we did that, and then went to Sunday School, where Elder Kearney and I both talked to different investigators. I met one that was apparently at church for the second time, and we had never met him before, and he really wanted to take the lessons and be baptized, so I got his name and address, and it turns out he's supposed to be going to a different ward. So we had to send that referral to the Highland Hills ward, but that was super exciting to meet him. And then during priesthood, I got asked to take an outline of the discussion we had for the lesson, so that an expanded version could be written later, and sent to the bishop. So church was super busy. But really good.

Well, things are going super well here. We have a bunch of potential here right now, so we are trying to focus now on taking the interest that people have, and making it something life changing for them. Brian is getting baptized this Friday, so that's super exciting. And we have 2 investigators right now that are super solid, and can be put on date soon. It's just so exciting to watch people learn about the truths we teach for the first time, and watch it change their lives. I'm so happy to be out right now! I love you all, and miss you tons!

--Elder Prue