Good morning!!!
It was another great week in the mission field....much better than last week, actually. Last week was kind of slow and with the stress of transfers and all, a little uptight.
As for investigators....J is still progressing wonderfully. We had two lessons with her last week. We're coming down to the end with all the teaching we have to do. The only things we have left to teach are a couple commandments and laws and ordinances. This week we talked about following the prophet, reading and praying often, keeping the law of chastity, and keeping the Sabbath Day holy. She just accepts everything we teach and continues to read like a champ. She started the Book of Mormon from the beginning and read seven chapters in two days! Not only that, but she actually understands what she's reading and enjoys it. She also made us a delicious Tres Leches cake for my companion's birthday. She's known Elder Fowers for just over a week now and she spent two hours making that cake just for his birthday. A perfect example of Christ-like love and service. She said she talked to her kids about being baptized and they said they support her 100%. We'll probably finish up teaching her this week and then have the baptismal interview next week and then SPLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH. (Chris Smoove Easton and Dallin)
Church was also excellent. This Sunday was our mission wide "Invitation Super Sunday" so we made sure to get everyone we could to church. We had three investigators and a bunch of less actives come, and the meeting was very spiritual. I opened it up with "Lead, Kindly Light" which got everyone reverent and really invited the Spirit. Then we had some very powerful testimonies and a great speaker from the State Legislature. He spoke a lot about the Atonement. He shared an interesting story from the life of a 9 year old pioneer girl from the Willy Handcart Company. This girl was always walking on the side of the wagon, envying the people who got to ride inside. One day the man who was driving the wagon asked her if she'd like to ride in the wagon. She said yes, so he grabbed her hand and urged the horses to a gallop. The man continued to hold her hand as he dragged her beside the wagon. The little girl wondered why the man was being so cruel, because she could barely keep up with the wagon and her feet were beginning to drag. Just as she was about to give up, the man lifted her into the wagon and wrapped her in a blanket. It was years later that this woman realized what the man had done. Having her run as fast as she could beside the wagon like that allowed her body to generate the heat necessary to keep her alive in the cold. She would have never made it otherwise. The same applies to us. Sometimes the Lord allows us to struggle so that we can generate heat to be able to stay alive. It's our struggles, and then overcoming them with the help of the Savior, that get us through life. I've definitely see that be the case with me. It's the struggle that allows us not only to grow, but to learn to rely on the Savior to overcome our difficulties.
Because of our efforts we were able to have 97 people at Sacrament Meeting on Sunday to hear that talk and to feel of the Spirit. That's more than the branch is had in almost 10 years. We truly put our efforts in to get people to church, and the Lord rewarded us. That's something I love about this work...just the amount of miracles that occur if we look for them. The Lord is truly in this work and it's just my privilege to be a part of it.
Also, I played with seven puppies last night. That was amazing.
That is all. Have a great week!
-Elder Landon Carroll
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