Letter #8

 

 

 

In the MTC, they always tell you about the years in your mission. They talk about how they will be the greatest and most spiritual years of your life. However, they never talk about the weeks in your mission. They don't talk about the weeks when your gospel principles teacher takes his lesson from the Apocrypha. And on a week we had investigators too...

 But overall, it was a pretty good week. My new companion is Elder Burt. He has been in the mission for about 5 months now, so he hasn't been here that long either. He is from Sandy, Utah, and he ran track in high school, and was really good at it, but he didn't actually like it. He's really cool, and we get along really well, and he's a hard worker and obedient, which are pretty much the most important things on the mission. I've had a cold all week long, and so that's been pretty annoying. But I'm on the downside of it, so it should be pretty much gone by tomorrow I think. So I'm excited for that. We're supposed to have a pretty sunny week coming up, and so that's really exciting. Today has been a really clear day so far, and with the days getting longer, and no clouds this morning, there was actually sun coming into our apartment when we woke up this morning. That was really cool. We're still in Stadium ward, and so Elder Burt has been on the mission longer than I have, but I know the people a little better, so it works out pretty well. We had ward conference this last week, so that has been interesting. On Wednesday, we got together with people from the stake and visited less actives, and last night, there was a ward social that we went to. It had free food, plus it's a good way to get to know the members better, which always helps the missionary work go smoother, and plus we got to talk to investigators/recent converts. Brian was there with his wife and kid, and so they got to meet other people in the ward better, and our investigator Leah (who was taught by the Soundview Ward's sister missionaries. I can't remember if I've mentioned her or not...) came by and met people. Sonja was there too, and so it was a pretty good turnout from our people. There were also a bunch of stake people that I met.

Because of the split in our zone that happened this last transfer, my district changed. Which I guess probably isn't all that interesting too you... but that is interesting to us missionaries, so that's why I thought to mention it. Haha, well, anyway, my new district leader is Elder Muirbrook, who has only been out one transfer longer than I have. He was in my zone last transfer, so I already know him pretty well. But he's also training a new elder, so we have a super young district. Because I'm on my second transfer, and my companion is on his fourth, and Muirbrook is on his third, and his comp is on his first, and in mountain view, Elder Generoux is on his seventh, and he's training a new guy on his first transfer as well, and both of the sisters in mountain view are on their third transfer. So there is only one person in our district of 8 who has been out for more than 6 months. Which is super crazy.

Well, there's so much that happened this last week that I don't even know what to talk about. Yesterday we were invited to a baptism in our ward for an 8-year-old, and that was pretty exciting. It's the first one of those that I've been to here in Washington. It was a really good baptism. And it was a proper one, like in California, not those silly Rexburg stake baptisms. Haha, it was really great though, because it reminded me a ton of how my baptism was. I haven't seen one like it in a really long time because of how Rexburg needs to do theirs. Also, yesterday, whilst tracting, we ran into a family who was on their way home from the grocery store, and we asked them if they would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ, and the dad got super defensive at first, and was acting like he wanted to argue with us or whatever, and then Elder Burt asked if he needed help with anything, and he started apologizing, and said he had a really long day and didn't mean to be rude, but we could come over to his house the next day, and we did, and he was totally prepared for the gospel, and we taught him for about 2 hours, and we gave them a Book of Mormon, and they said that they would read it and pray about it, and so that was a miracle, because in one sentance, he wanted to fight with us, and in the next, he was inviting us over for taquitos. We are going back for another appointment tomorrow, so hopefully they keep up with their commitments to read and pray and all that, because they are an awesome family, and the gospel could definitely really improve their lives.

Anyway, that's all for this week. I love you all and miss you tons! I'm excited to get to call home for Mother's Day this transfer :) Talk to you later