This was another great week. I'll tell a couple fun stories before I get into the good stuff. So the subject line (Tacos) is from a sweet experience we had this week. We went by a former investigator and it said that her son is a convert and served a mission and everything, so she loves Mormons. She wanted to feed us something, but we said it was fine, but she insisted that she feed us, so she made us homemade-refried bean and cheese tacos. They were the best thing ever! They tasted so good! She did say that if anyone will convert her it will be her son, so not a ton of potential there, but it was super nice. Also, we found out from an investigator this week that the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was right across the street from our apartment! Either it happened there or was just filmed there, but either way that is pretty crazy! I can't look at the little hill the same way anymore. Anyways it was a pretty great week.
Monday we had a lesson with the L family and Sis L said she would email pictures of me and Elder V with Bridget. Hopefully she sent those. This ward is seriously so awesome! Elder T wasn't feeling very good, so we took it pretty easy for the rest of the night and not a lot else happened.
Tuesday we had a lesson with E and he said that his wife wanted to be there for it too. We had a lesson on the Book of Mormon and E said he wants to get baptized once he feels like he understands everything well enough. Perfect! His wife is pretty cool too and also really interested, unfortunately she can only move her left arm because of her MS. It makes it hard for them to make it to church. Pray for them for sure. We also had a lesson with J and A about the Book of Mormon and it was super awesome. The Spirit was pretty strong and we did try to get him to pray right there to know that it is true, but he rejected it and said he would pray on his own. Otherwise he is doing really well.
Wednesday we had dinner with the As and it was sweet! They are an awesome family. We had like 10 minutes to wait for dinner and the kids wanted to play with me so Elder T talked with Bro. A while I played frisbee and stuff with their kids. Kids rule. We had a lesson with the Ms, but the mom wasn't there. We watched a few Mormon Messages and it went pretty well.
Thursday we taught a guy that was a former investigator that I felt like we should go by, and he was really nice and we taught him about prophets pretty quickly and set up a return appointment. We were suppose to have a lesson with V at the O's house since they are suppose to be taking over the teaching, but V was sick and they didn't tell us so we went over and then they forced us to have some cobbler and ice cream (I'm not complaining). It was a weird situation, but we got them to reschedule a lesson for next week and I had a feeling that V was doing fine, so we stopped by and had a lesson with her. Her understanding of the gospel has really picked up and it is cool to see.
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| Trunk or Treat Elder Pew and new companion Elder T |
Friday was a crazy day. We had the trunk-or-treat party which was AWESOME! We had the genius idea of having pass-along cards for people as well, and we decorated our trunk. We taped some teeth on the bottom and top of the trunk and it looked like a monster. It was pretty cool. There were A LOT of nonmembers there and a few part-member families, including the Fs. We have worked really hard with them and haven't had a lesson yet, but we have become good friends with the oldest daughters since they like soccer. We got them to come to the trunk-or-treat by bribing them with a soccer juggling contest which I unofficially won. They are a super awesome family and I hope the mom will get more involved. She is super cool too, but will have a hard time getting back into the groove of things. The younger kids and Brother F both came to church so that was great. This is just a fantastic ward. I wouldn't mind serving here for awhile. J and A came and they were able to meet a bunch of new people so that was awesome too. A couple teenagers in the ward brought their friend B. He is super cool and super nice and we invited him to church. He likes choir and basketball, so we clicked pretty fast. We were in charge of the costume contest so I had to get up in front of everyone and announce the winners which was a little stressful, but overall it was a really successful night. I didn't realize how stressful it would be though, since I realized how much I love the investigators and how protective I am of them. I was constantly trying to make sure people were talking with the less-active, part member, and investigators. It was really fun to have so much to do. We had a few minutes before we had to be back, and I felt like we should visit a less active lady and as we got out of the car she was passing us and invited us over for lunch the next day. Sweet!
Saturday we taught M again, and we got her to commit to read the Book of Mormon! She said she would read the first chapter, and then she ended up coming to the first hour of church. She wanted to stay in Sunday School.. We had lunch with Sister T and her family. She is super funny. and she has a strong testimony, she is just going through some pretty tough trials. That evening, again, right before we had to be in I felt like we should stop by a less active lady whose grandson who lives with her is unbaptized. He is 11 and super nice. I had always felt in the past that we should have him get his grandma active, so when she said (again) that we should come back another time, I quickly asked if her grandson, S, wanted to come to church. He came out and so did she and he said he did. We asked if we could teach them a lesson sometime. She said she wanted to start coming back too and said we came at the perfect time. She just lost her job and wants to start coming back but she needs S to push her into going again. We will teach them next week and I have no doubt that he will be baptized! We also resumed teaching A and have a date set for November 9. By the way, the transfer ends on Thanksgiving, so we have a lot we can do before the transfer ends. I hope I stay!
Sunday was awesome. Sister T, her son, M, J and A, B, and the Fs all came to church! It's also cool now to sit in ward council and hear what the ward needs and to know more about these people than the ward council, so I've become much more active in those meetings now that I know so much of what is going on. I'm super humbled to see how much the Spirit has helped me lately. It has guided us so much and I've grown so much because of it. It is really cool to see great things come from small promptings. We sat with B at church and set up a lesson with him at the D's house. He is super cool, but not sure what to expect, so hopefully he feels the Spirit. If nothing else he is a really good kid and I'm glad to meet him. We had dinner with like 5 families in the ward which was really fun too. We tried stopping by a few potential investigators but didn't have much success.
Overall, I have gained such a strong testimony of the Holy Ghost. I know that we can be guided in our lives and as we turn to prayer, our Heavenly Father does answer prayers. It is the best feeling in the world to feel a prompting of the Spirit, act on it, and be an answer to somebody's prayer. I have also gained a testimony of patience, and several weeks ago it was hard to see myself even where I am now, and I know I can continue to grow because of diligent work and the Atonement. I know that this is Christ's church on the earth and that He is the head of it and leads and guides it. I know that the Book of Mormon changes lives. I've seen it and I am so certain of its truthfulness. Thanks for all the love and support I've received!
Elder Pew
