greetings and sulutations my loved ones. as you could probably have guessed, yesterday the places were closed so we weren't able to e-mail. I think it was Memorial Day, maybe Veterans. Well i guess that goes to show you how much of a holiday it was for us. Actually, 'i'm pretty sure it was memorial. I called a member of the ward, and he picked up and said, "Hello, this is Mark Bendoski, How are you doing? Happy memorial day." ....One comment at a time! I didn't even know where to begin in responding to all of that.
We went bowling. we bowled 4 games. I got frustrated on the 2'nd game because we were doing team bowling, and all my companion had to do for us to win was knock down two pins in the final frame and we would win......ya, he got one. It was okay though. I got over it. My highest score was a 180 yesterday. Those bowling shoes i bought sure make a difference :).
Last Monday i bought another suit, but this one reached the all-time low price of a whopping 3 dollars and 50 cents! And it looks like a million bucks. Elder Ostler called from his new area and said he found a suit that he will bring to me at zone conference. That is going to put me up to a grand total of 7 suits that i have now. And keep in mind i came out with 1. Thrift store after thrift store has kindly donated to my collection.
On Tuesday we had transfers and i got my new missionary companion, Elder Duane, and guess what, he is a Canuck! Luckily it hasnt been the source of any contention yet. He's been out 5 months now. He can play the recorder pretty well, which is nice. Can't go wrong with a little recorder action. I must say i enjoy being senior companion a lot. I like setting the work load. This last week we made tons of progress with one of our investigators, Jaira Cuthbert. We had a sweet bomb diggity lesson Friday night.
We just drove over because we had about an hour left in the day, and so we were just gonna stop by and set something up. So i just asked if we could come in and we did. I then turned to my companion and asked, "So, any ideas?" I sure do love unplanned lessons. But it went really well. We read from the Doctrine and Covenants, section 59 of why church is so important, and it finally registered to her why she needed to be at church, and she did come. It was one of those lessons where you don't really remember what you said. Just like the hymn we sing says....."let the holy spirit guide..." and thats about all i know of it.
Sunday morning was one of the most anxiety filled mornings of my mission. We met someone at 8 20 am to go pick up people for church. Well he set off the car alarm, which came with CAR ALARM 10.0 or something outrageous like that, and he couldn't get it to turn off. So he starts driving down the road, with everyone coming outsire to see what the noise is. Finally i just said, we need to turn around and get this off, i'm not picking people up in this thing. Plus, the power had just gone out, so the cops were out doing the intersections. Keep in mind that time is still running. Finally we figure out how to turn it off every time it came back on, so we drove past some cops and quickly turned it off, and they looked at us for awhile. Luckily we never got stopped. So we get to the first persons house, Jaira, and she is in her PJ's. So i told her to come at 9 30 and i'll be outside. Then we got our other person, Alexander, and that went fine.
Well 9 30 comes and i go stand outside.....and wait....and wait....finally i gave up and went back into sacrament meeting, thinking she never came. My blood was pumpin! But then when the meeting was over i walked out into the foyer (check with Justin Jones on the pronunciation of that one) and she was sitting their with her two kids. That sure made my day.
Anyways, Alexander is scheduled to be baptixed this saturday at 10 am, Jaira the next Saturday. We were supposed to meet with Alexander and set up the program last night, but he didn't get home till...well actually i'm not sure right now if he came home. :) Sure do love the week before baptisms. So we could use some prayers with this one.
Other than that things are going pretty well. Oh ya, last Monday we got a phone call from the Assisstants, and they told us we now have the car all the time. I think this is the first time i told you that......right? Well either way, it is nice. Especially with the summer time and what not. My companion is doing well, just need to help him get up in the morning. But i'm used to that. Good to hear Mike got himself an internship. Working the good old 9 to 5. Mom, you said that will be new for him. Well, Mike once worked a 6:30 to 10:30, so i think he shouldn't mind it.
Oh ya i met some lady yesterday in the Wal-Mart parking lot from Boston. I told her i used to live in Connecticut, and she was so upset when i said we lived in California now. Oh well. Sister Knudson, the lady in the ward with the two kids, single mom, who we have been trying to help quit smoking, is now on day 31 smoke free. Thats the longest she's gone in 30 years or so. Well, thats about all for now. Sounds like you've got some traveling to look forward to these next few weeks. Hope ya have fun, send me some pictures. My companion's name is Elder Duane, he is from Cardston, Alberta,......Canada.
Love, your third born
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
This One is Action Packed (see new pics)
Lots of stuff went down this week. I'll get some info out of the way first, and then tell you probably the coolest thing that has happened here, aside from missionary work.
First off, we had transfer calls on Saturday, and i got to call in for the first time. woo woo. I'm gonna be staying here in Sanford another transfer and will be going senior companion. So i'll be here in Sanford for a quarter of my mission at least, by the time this transfer is over. My companion is going to be Elder Duane. He has been out 4 1/2 months. I've seen him a couple times. I know who trained him and who is with him now, and they are both cool dudes, so he should be in good shape. Also, the Spanish missionaries are both leaving, and no one is coming into their area. So we live in a 4-man apartment, and it will just be the two of us, so there will be a lot of room. It should be fun.
We were going to have a baptism this upcoming Saturday, the 26'th. We had it all scheduled and everything, but he called at 2 am Sunday morning and said he wouldnt be able to make it to church, so his baptism will now be scheduled for June 2'nd.
The "love bugs" are out in full force already. I mentioned bugs that the University of Florida created to eat mosquitoes, but they dont do that. The dont do anything really. Just multiply and die. So they aren't all that annoying, but there are so many of those suckers around. They come out twice a year, for about a month or so each time. Once around now and once towards late Summer.
I'm happy to be staying in the area and looking forward to the next 6 weeks. Elder Ostler is going to a place called Lecanto, which is only known for the fact that people like to eat squirrel out there, so you can imagine he is thrilled to be going out there.
Now on to the really cool story. Tuesday afternoon, we were driving down a street. We saw a man booking it, just running as fast as he could, with a bag. And we thought, just joking around, that he had stolen something and took off. We drive around the bend and we see a car, up in someones yard, crashed into a lightpole, which had been knocked over. So we put two and two together, pulled over and asked someone what happened. They said that guy just crashed and took off running. Well there weren't any cops around or anyone else......so guess who had to go chase him down......Elder and Ostler and I started running in hot pursuit and apprehended the madman until the cops came. The story of what actually happened is quite funny. He had stopped to pick up a turtle in the road. He then started driving again, but the turtle was bugging him and he couldn't get it off him. So he wasn't paying attention and went off the road into someone's yard and hit a pole. His license was suspended, so he took off running, because he didnt want to get arrested, since his wife was pregnant. Now....what was in the bag? Vegetbale oil and one box of rice-a-roni. Just getting some groceries. And you are probably wondering about the turtle. The creature survived with just a few scratches. Ya see, turtles have a protective shell to shield them from these types of accidents, and he was just chillin' in his shell. The cops eventually came and asked the guy if he wanted them to call paramedics for his turtle. So he tried to do a good thing and ended up in a wreck. We don't know what happened to him, but i got some pics by the scene. You should try to find an online news site for Sanford newspaper and see if we made it in the paper ever. I just wonder what people saw as they drove past and saw a man with blood on his face being chased by two missionaries in slacks, white shirts, ties, and dress shoes. It was fun though.
That's about all that happened this week. I did get my hat from Mike and Leslie. It was just sitting in the apartment office. Apparently they dont worry about delivering thigns to us when UPS drops it off.
So my address is still the same and will be for another 6 weeks. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL 32773. Hope you enjoy the pics. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya lots
First off, we had transfer calls on Saturday, and i got to call in for the first time. woo woo. I'm gonna be staying here in Sanford another transfer and will be going senior companion. So i'll be here in Sanford for a quarter of my mission at least, by the time this transfer is over. My companion is going to be Elder Duane. He has been out 4 1/2 months. I've seen him a couple times. I know who trained him and who is with him now, and they are both cool dudes, so he should be in good shape. Also, the Spanish missionaries are both leaving, and no one is coming into their area. So we live in a 4-man apartment, and it will just be the two of us, so there will be a lot of room. It should be fun.
We were going to have a baptism this upcoming Saturday, the 26'th. We had it all scheduled and everything, but he called at 2 am Sunday morning and said he wouldnt be able to make it to church, so his baptism will now be scheduled for June 2'nd.
The "love bugs" are out in full force already. I mentioned bugs that the University of Florida created to eat mosquitoes, but they dont do that. The dont do anything really. Just multiply and die. So they aren't all that annoying, but there are so many of those suckers around. They come out twice a year, for about a month or so each time. Once around now and once towards late Summer.
I'm happy to be staying in the area and looking forward to the next 6 weeks. Elder Ostler is going to a place called Lecanto, which is only known for the fact that people like to eat squirrel out there, so you can imagine he is thrilled to be going out there.
Now on to the really cool story. Tuesday afternoon, we were driving down a street. We saw a man booking it, just running as fast as he could, with a bag. And we thought, just joking around, that he had stolen something and took off. We drive around the bend and we see a car, up in someones yard, crashed into a lightpole, which had been knocked over. So we put two and two together, pulled over and asked someone what happened. They said that guy just crashed and took off running. Well there weren't any cops around or anyone else......so guess who had to go chase him down......Elder and Ostler and I started running in hot pursuit and apprehended the madman until the cops came. The story of what actually happened is quite funny. He had stopped to pick up a turtle in the road. He then started driving again, but the turtle was bugging him and he couldn't get it off him. So he wasn't paying attention and went off the road into someone's yard and hit a pole. His license was suspended, so he took off running, because he didnt want to get arrested, since his wife was pregnant. Now....what was in the bag? Vegetbale oil and one box of rice-a-roni. Just getting some groceries. And you are probably wondering about the turtle. The creature survived with just a few scratches. Ya see, turtles have a protective shell to shield them from these types of accidents, and he was just chillin' in his shell. The cops eventually came and asked the guy if he wanted them to call paramedics for his turtle. So he tried to do a good thing and ended up in a wreck. We don't know what happened to him, but i got some pics by the scene. You should try to find an online news site for Sanford newspaper and see if we made it in the paper ever. I just wonder what people saw as they drove past and saw a man with blood on his face being chased by two missionaries in slacks, white shirts, ties, and dress shoes. It was fun though.
That's about all that happened this week. I did get my hat from Mike and Leslie. It was just sitting in the apartment office. Apparently they dont worry about delivering thigns to us when UPS drops it off.
So my address is still the same and will be for another 6 weeks. 7204 Stonebrook Drive, Sanford FL 32773. Hope you enjoy the pics. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya lots
Sunday, May 13, 2007
May 7 Letter---But I sure do love fignewtons
That one comes from Talladega Nights. This last week had a few firsts in my 7 1/2 months of serving the Almighty. I was blessed with a popped tire. We were riding to an appointment kind of in the ghetto when my tire just decided to get deflated on me. Well, it turned out i piece of glass piereced the tire and went through the whole tube, both sides. Well we pulled over, stopped at the Agricultural Market, and patched it up. Then, I started pumping the tube back up and broke the stem. So we decided we REALLY weren't supposed to go to that appointment at 10:30. Who knows what would have gone down in S-Town. That rhymed, in case you didn't notice.
That day, one of Elder Ostlers companions who has since returned home came out and visited with his family. They took us out to Chipotle and then they went ahead and bought me a new tire. I just thought they were joking about paying for it but they went ahead and got it. Sure was nice of them. So the bike was fixed in no time and we were back at it.
Not too much happened this week. I went on exchanges with our Zone Leader Elder Jones, who we always joke about being the most spiritual person in the world, who gives counsel to President Farnsworth. He's just on top of things. Anyways we had some cool experiences tracting teaching. He also possesses the deepest voice on the face of the earth, which i am sure at times registers on the richter scale, or whatever that earthquake thing is called. We went tracting and ran from house to house. We got a lot of free water out of it. It was a good exchange. He said i was well on my way.
Brother Little Joe Rodgers let us down a little bit this week. He called at 8:10 am on Sunday morning and said that since they slept in, the wouldnt be able to come to church. He had called his neighbors, who we are teaching, and told them that they shouldn't plan on going because his family wouldnt be going. It was really weird. I couldnt say, "Brother Rodgers, its only 8:00 am, you still have an hour to get to church, and even if you are a few minutes late, thats not a problem." Well maybe i should have said that, but i didn't. But we went over after church and taught the neighbors again. She is rock solid. She, Julie, has a Buddhist background but is just drinking it all in and reading more than we give her. This Friday we're planning on going on a Temple Tour over in Orlando, which would be nice because its been a few months since i've gone. WE usually try to get everyone we teach over there.
That was the extent of the week. Jsut usual missionary work. one guy said he wouldnt calm down until he pulled his foot out of our.....pants? It was pretty funny. I also met a guy in our ward who moved in who is from PLeasant Grove. I forgot his name, but i'll get it again. I said, my grandparents are all from there. He looked at my nametag, "Barton.......school principal?" I said, "Yep, thats my grandpa." So i asked him if he knew any Ringgers. He said he new Nathan Ringger and his dad who was the mission president. So i said, "Yep, my cousin and uncle." Small world huh.
This morning we had a lesson with one of our investigators with a date for May 19'th and it isnt looking hot at the moment. I pulled a pretty gutsy move and told him we aren't going to schedule another appointment, because we dont want him to read just because we are coming back.
Yesterday Elder Ostler decided to become 100% obedient, and so i hopped on the bandwagon and we are shooting for the perfect obedience, not just 95% or so. This will be an interesting experience as we approach the obedience with exactness to everything. But we already felt it this morning as we felt prompted to not set a return appointment. It is now completely up to our investigator and his desires. WE told him he will be rewarded according to his desires.
I had some cool experiences as we fasted yesterday and i read from the scriptures. I had a pretty cool experience as things were just unfolded before me in the scriptures. Alma 42 is a little complicated to read, but boy do i understand it all now. The Plan of Redemption is based upon the law, which law brings about a punishment, or a consequence. This consequence brings about remorse of conscience, or sorrow, your common feeling of guilt, which brings us to be humble and leads us to repentance. Repentance is the purpose of this life, to serve God. Repentance is made possible through the plan of Mercy, brought about by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which brings us back into the presence of God. Make sense? Its a fun one.
That was the week in a nutshell (hey look! this is me in a nut shell). Remember what movie that is from? TOnight the Zone LEaders are going to be in our area so they are just gonna sleep over at our place. It should be fun. This will be my first sleepover on my mission. A lot of sleepovers take place, just not legally. I dont know id "legally" is the right word, but you catch my drift. I'll send some pics from the Science Center when we visited last monday.
Just remembered. I'm calling home this Sunday. Boo ya. I have church from 9-12. So i guess i can call anytime after that, 9 your time. We'll have to keep it to about 40 minutes, since we are going for complete obedience. I guess i'll call Saturday night and set up a time, like i did for Christmas. I guess you'll be at church at some point in the day, but we'll figure out when i'll call. Take care. I send my love through this electronic world. Love ya.
That day, one of Elder Ostlers companions who has since returned home came out and visited with his family. They took us out to Chipotle and then they went ahead and bought me a new tire. I just thought they were joking about paying for it but they went ahead and got it. Sure was nice of them. So the bike was fixed in no time and we were back at it.
Not too much happened this week. I went on exchanges with our Zone Leader Elder Jones, who we always joke about being the most spiritual person in the world, who gives counsel to President Farnsworth. He's just on top of things. Anyways we had some cool experiences tracting teaching. He also possesses the deepest voice on the face of the earth, which i am sure at times registers on the richter scale, or whatever that earthquake thing is called. We went tracting and ran from house to house. We got a lot of free water out of it. It was a good exchange. He said i was well on my way.
Brother Little Joe Rodgers let us down a little bit this week. He called at 8:10 am on Sunday morning and said that since they slept in, the wouldnt be able to come to church. He had called his neighbors, who we are teaching, and told them that they shouldn't plan on going because his family wouldnt be going. It was really weird. I couldnt say, "Brother Rodgers, its only 8:00 am, you still have an hour to get to church, and even if you are a few minutes late, thats not a problem." Well maybe i should have said that, but i didn't. But we went over after church and taught the neighbors again. She is rock solid. She, Julie, has a Buddhist background but is just drinking it all in and reading more than we give her. This Friday we're planning on going on a Temple Tour over in Orlando, which would be nice because its been a few months since i've gone. WE usually try to get everyone we teach over there.
That was the extent of the week. Jsut usual missionary work. one guy said he wouldnt calm down until he pulled his foot out of our.....pants? It was pretty funny. I also met a guy in our ward who moved in who is from PLeasant Grove. I forgot his name, but i'll get it again. I said, my grandparents are all from there. He looked at my nametag, "Barton.......school principal?" I said, "Yep, thats my grandpa." So i asked him if he knew any Ringgers. He said he new Nathan Ringger and his dad who was the mission president. So i said, "Yep, my cousin and uncle." Small world huh.
This morning we had a lesson with one of our investigators with a date for May 19'th and it isnt looking hot at the moment. I pulled a pretty gutsy move and told him we aren't going to schedule another appointment, because we dont want him to read just because we are coming back.
Yesterday Elder Ostler decided to become 100% obedient, and so i hopped on the bandwagon and we are shooting for the perfect obedience, not just 95% or so. This will be an interesting experience as we approach the obedience with exactness to everything. But we already felt it this morning as we felt prompted to not set a return appointment. It is now completely up to our investigator and his desires. WE told him he will be rewarded according to his desires.
I had some cool experiences as we fasted yesterday and i read from the scriptures. I had a pretty cool experience as things were just unfolded before me in the scriptures. Alma 42 is a little complicated to read, but boy do i understand it all now. The Plan of Redemption is based upon the law, which law brings about a punishment, or a consequence. This consequence brings about remorse of conscience, or sorrow, your common feeling of guilt, which brings us to be humble and leads us to repentance. Repentance is the purpose of this life, to serve God. Repentance is made possible through the plan of Mercy, brought about by the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which brings us back into the presence of God. Make sense? Its a fun one.
That was the week in a nutshell (hey look! this is me in a nut shell). Remember what movie that is from? TOnight the Zone LEaders are going to be in our area so they are just gonna sleep over at our place. It should be fun. This will be my first sleepover on my mission. A lot of sleepovers take place, just not legally. I dont know id "legally" is the right word, but you catch my drift. I'll send some pics from the Science Center when we visited last monday.
Just remembered. I'm calling home this Sunday. Boo ya. I have church from 9-12. So i guess i can call anytime after that, 9 your time. We'll have to keep it to about 40 minutes, since we are going for complete obedience. I guess i'll call Saturday night and set up a time, like i did for Christmas. I guess you'll be at church at some point in the day, but we'll figure out when i'll call. Take care. I send my love through this electronic world. Love ya.
April 30 Letter
Hey there. Been a pretty cool week. Did some service, bought something, and got some work done.
Last Monday i was at JC Penny before we went to a dinner, and i saw a deal to buy a suit jacket and then get the pants for 88 cents. So i went for it. I sure do love the suit. Its a dark gray looking thing. I'll have to snap a photo of it sometime this week so you can see it.
On Tuesday we layed down some sod for some members of the ward. Did about half their backyard. It was pretty fun hauling grass around.
I guess the real cool part of the week all happened yesterday. Well i'll talk a little more about the rest of the week first. Not a whole lot happened, but we managed to make some good progress with some people who we taught a month or so ago and they told us they would call us. Usually when someone says "we'll call you" it means they wont. anyways, she called last week and wanted us to come back over. She had a death in the family and so that prompted her to call us. Although, when we got there she said, "I wanted to tell you that you are being misled and you need to realize that." Luckily, not the first time i;ve walked into a teaching appointment and heard that. Let me just say that 30 minutes later she was crying and promised that she was wrong by saying that, and apologized, and is going to read and pray and do all those things. There's the spirit for you.
Then on Sunday, we hadn't found anyone new to teach so far in the week. Well first off, on Wednesday we had Zone Conference and President Farnsworth was talking about faith and made most of us realize maybe our faith wasn't all that strong. He said a lot of us are missionaries that believe but we dont have any faith. Then he built us back up. What a tactic. Anyways, Elder Ostler was really into the talk, because that something he's been struglling with, and so this week he has been much more diligent when it comes to missionary work, so that was a good thing. Anyways, Sunday came and we hadn't found anyone and we had set a goal to find 4 people this week. Elder Ostler's faith was getting low. He said on Sunday, "well it looks like we wont have any." So i said something along the lines of, "We still got one more day. Let's go bring in the sheaves." I dont even know what "bring in the sheaves" really means but i said it. So we knelt down and prayed. Here is where it gets pretty cool. I opened the door to leave, walked back inside real quick to grab something, and then went back outside. There was a man satnding there with his dog and he asked "So do you go to the flight school?" (There is a Delta flight school right by us and a lot of people in the academy live in the complex) So i told him who we were and he said he was really curious and told us to come by at 8 that night. He's 25 or so. So we went back later and talked with him for awhile and he was really interested, fascinated by all the information i guess. He said he was all tingly and getting goosebumps the whole time. It was a pretty cool experience.
In the middle of that story, before we went back to teach him at night, another cool thing happened. We were riding around talking to people and i started talking to one guy while he was doing yardwork. He said he always wanted to order a Book of Mormon and read more, but for some reason never called. So we talked for a little bit, then he said, "Ya know, i'd like to invite you in for some Kool-Aid." So we drank some Kool-Aid, gave him the Book of Mormon that he had always wanted, and set up a time to come back this week. He also invited us to stay for dinner but we had to leave.
But just like that we found some really cool people. And it was all a test of our faith throughout the week. Sunday came and it was one of the easiest days i've had to find people who would listen.
That was really all i had for the week. I'll send some pictures to you in another e-mail. Got in a pretty decent spiritual throw down with another man this week. It was done in somewhat a manner of politeness but i probably wasted 40 minutes just going back and forth with him. Not the best thing to do with our time.
Yesterday for church we had a Stake Conference and it was one of the ebst i've ever been to i think. Brother Rodgers and his family brought their neighbors, who we have taught a couple times. On Friday we were talking to them, she is Buddhist but it was cool because at the end she said she believes in Jesus Christ. Anyways, Bro Rodgers got them to Stake Conference and sat them down on the front row. Perfect place for visitors! The music was really good. The stake choir was rivaling the Tabernacle Choir it seemed like. All the talks were really good.
One lady told her conversion story when she was baptized about a year ago. It might have been the best talk i've ever heard. She told her life story pretty much. Her talk was called "Searching for the truth, but not knowing where to find it." All these stories of people telling her when she was young that her grandparents were going to hell because they died without doing certain things and other stories like that. 20 years later she finally found the fulness of the truth. It was a good one.
I got your package of food. That oatmel is really good. I've been eating a lot of oatmeal of late. Dont think i'll need to buy much food this week. It was very hot the past few days. Excited for the summer.....
I heard the Warriors are up 3-1 against Dallas. Talk about miracles! I hope all is well back home or whever everyone is. Congra(g)ulations to Her for graduating from college. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya.
Last Monday i was at JC Penny before we went to a dinner, and i saw a deal to buy a suit jacket and then get the pants for 88 cents. So i went for it. I sure do love the suit. Its a dark gray looking thing. I'll have to snap a photo of it sometime this week so you can see it.
On Tuesday we layed down some sod for some members of the ward. Did about half their backyard. It was pretty fun hauling grass around.
I guess the real cool part of the week all happened yesterday. Well i'll talk a little more about the rest of the week first. Not a whole lot happened, but we managed to make some good progress with some people who we taught a month or so ago and they told us they would call us. Usually when someone says "we'll call you" it means they wont. anyways, she called last week and wanted us to come back over. She had a death in the family and so that prompted her to call us. Although, when we got there she said, "I wanted to tell you that you are being misled and you need to realize that." Luckily, not the first time i;ve walked into a teaching appointment and heard that. Let me just say that 30 minutes later she was crying and promised that she was wrong by saying that, and apologized, and is going to read and pray and do all those things. There's the spirit for you.
Then on Sunday, we hadn't found anyone new to teach so far in the week. Well first off, on Wednesday we had Zone Conference and President Farnsworth was talking about faith and made most of us realize maybe our faith wasn't all that strong. He said a lot of us are missionaries that believe but we dont have any faith. Then he built us back up. What a tactic. Anyways, Elder Ostler was really into the talk, because that something he's been struglling with, and so this week he has been much more diligent when it comes to missionary work, so that was a good thing. Anyways, Sunday came and we hadn't found anyone and we had set a goal to find 4 people this week. Elder Ostler's faith was getting low. He said on Sunday, "well it looks like we wont have any." So i said something along the lines of, "We still got one more day. Let's go bring in the sheaves." I dont even know what "bring in the sheaves" really means but i said it. So we knelt down and prayed. Here is where it gets pretty cool. I opened the door to leave, walked back inside real quick to grab something, and then went back outside. There was a man satnding there with his dog and he asked "So do you go to the flight school?" (There is a Delta flight school right by us and a lot of people in the academy live in the complex) So i told him who we were and he said he was really curious and told us to come by at 8 that night. He's 25 or so. So we went back later and talked with him for awhile and he was really interested, fascinated by all the information i guess. He said he was all tingly and getting goosebumps the whole time. It was a pretty cool experience.
In the middle of that story, before we went back to teach him at night, another cool thing happened. We were riding around talking to people and i started talking to one guy while he was doing yardwork. He said he always wanted to order a Book of Mormon and read more, but for some reason never called. So we talked for a little bit, then he said, "Ya know, i'd like to invite you in for some Kool-Aid." So we drank some Kool-Aid, gave him the Book of Mormon that he had always wanted, and set up a time to come back this week. He also invited us to stay for dinner but we had to leave.
But just like that we found some really cool people. And it was all a test of our faith throughout the week. Sunday came and it was one of the easiest days i've had to find people who would listen.
That was really all i had for the week. I'll send some pictures to you in another e-mail. Got in a pretty decent spiritual throw down with another man this week. It was done in somewhat a manner of politeness but i probably wasted 40 minutes just going back and forth with him. Not the best thing to do with our time.
Yesterday for church we had a Stake Conference and it was one of the ebst i've ever been to i think. Brother Rodgers and his family brought their neighbors, who we have taught a couple times. On Friday we were talking to them, she is Buddhist but it was cool because at the end she said she believes in Jesus Christ. Anyways, Bro Rodgers got them to Stake Conference and sat them down on the front row. Perfect place for visitors! The music was really good. The stake choir was rivaling the Tabernacle Choir it seemed like. All the talks were really good.
One lady told her conversion story when she was baptized about a year ago. It might have been the best talk i've ever heard. She told her life story pretty much. Her talk was called "Searching for the truth, but not knowing where to find it." All these stories of people telling her when she was young that her grandparents were going to hell because they died without doing certain things and other stories like that. 20 years later she finally found the fulness of the truth. It was a good one.
I got your package of food. That oatmel is really good. I've been eating a lot of oatmeal of late. Dont think i'll need to buy much food this week. It was very hot the past few days. Excited for the summer.....
I heard the Warriors are up 3-1 against Dallas. Talk about miracles! I hope all is well back home or whever everyone is. Congra(g)ulations to Her for graduating from college. I'll talk to ya next week. Love ya.
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