A good work week!

I solved all of the rubix cubes last p-day. It took me 56 minutes. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that that was just a one-time experience. I don't feel like wasting another hour of my precious p-day time. But I thought that it was cool.

January 12, 2015

         I got to play basketball today!!!  That was pretty awesme.  Other than that, today was like any other p-day.  We taught this less active member who is having a hard time with his testimony about the restoration and the Book of Mormon.  It is hard to see members deny the faith, but what can you do?

January 13, 2015

         I am never going to eat Ramen again.  I have only resorted to eating like 3 times on my mission and I have regretted it every time.  I ate 2 packages for lunch yesterday and I woke up today with the worst pain in my stomach.  Lunch was at home and we made lasagna, which I couldn’t even eat.  I still went out to work even though I didn’t feel well, and I am glad that I did.  Today was a good day of work.  We are teaching an 11 year old less active boy who is huge for his age.  He is a super cool kid and really bright.  He is one of the kids that was baptized by the previous elders.  This is what this kid had to say about that situation, “I stopped going to church because all of my friends there always sat with their families and I felt sad because I sat alone.”  Seriously, I wish that I could give those missionaries a mouthful. 

January 14, 2015

         Tonight we had a super cool family night at a member’s house with some of our investigators.  They really liked the activity and we got to know other people from the ward better.  A ton of people showed up and it was actually a really great fellowshipping activity.  Our ward is not known for activities like that so it was great to see.

January 15, 2015

         Okay we were visiting one of the recent converts and he sayd to us, “Oh yeah, I just remembered that I have a friend who told me that he wants to get baptized.”  So of course we stopped by the friend’s house to find out about him and he told us that he felt bad when he stopped going to seminary and that he has repented from when he told the other Elders that he didn’t want to get baptized.  Now he is ready and wants us to help him.  Stuff like that just doesn’t happen very often to missionaries, at least not to me.

         We have been fasting for our other investigator who is getting foot surgery this week.  She is very nervous and she has a strong desire to progress in the church, but her foot is a big problem that is holding her back.

         We have working on that 22 page ward list and trying to update the members in the ward.  It has been really weird because many of the names on the list are actually dead, including young people.  It goes like this, “Hey does so and so live here?” “No, he died a couple of months ago….or, no, He moved after his mom died.”  It is sad in a way, but we are finding a ton of people because of this list.

January 16, 2015

         I almost cried today when I was talking to a 12 year old boy who told us, “I don’t want to go back to church because everyone here in my apartment complex talks about how you guys don’t even care about us after we are baptized.”  There are literally 40 people under the age of 18 who live in that apartment complex who are coming to church because they feel like numbers.  That kind of stuff just kills me.

January 17, 2015

         This week has been awesome.  We’re really getting into the groove and starting to teach really well. Today we were walking in an alleyway and we basically had the opportunity to teach a sermon to these people in the alley on the restoration.  It was kind of a sketchy setting, and at first it seemed like no one was paying attention.  But once we started teaching it was almost like magic and everyone just stopped what they were doing to listen to us.  They even invited us to come back tomorrow. 

January 18, 2015

         Oh my gosh….it is often hard to understand and work with leadership in the mission field. There is a family who lives right next door to the chapel and they are not coming to church anymore because someone got after them for not paying their tithes in front of other members.  Today we had lunch with a ward leader and he started off the conversation with complaining about the activity that we had this week.  He was upset that we called it a “family night” and held it on Thursday.  Then he started complaining and complaining about how hard it is to reactivate people and how it is not worth the effort.  He literally said, “When they want to come back, they will come back.”  Then we started talking about our investigators and he got upset with us for having two kids on date for baptism….yeah, they are kids in a member family that has recently been reactivated.  The bishop couldn’t even remember one of the less active members who has been to church for the past month and interviewed with him last week.  She has been reactivated after 10 years of absence and asked to speak with the bishop about coming back.  How do you forget about something like that? 

        Still, My companion and I are doing to Lord's will, and we're seeing a lot of miracles happen every day. Seriously, this has been one of the best weeks that I've had in a long time. A lot of spiritual experiences, and a lot of times that I just wanted to cry.

         Just a couple of questions for you: Could you check into the camera that Taylor sent because I still have not received it yet.  Also, could you please send me a new long sleeved white shirt so that I have something decent to wear home.  My clothes are all falling apart and my shirts are looking bad. I am not planning on bringing anything home with me other than what I will be wearing.