Week of August 11, 2014

Holy cow school is started and summer is over..... That's so weird.... Where is my life going?  I had a dream the other night that I was going home from my mission with all the other Elders that I came out with and you guys picked me up from the airport and I was just bawling my eyes out because I didn't want my mission to be over.... haha... and you guys were driving me around and I was super happy to see you guys, but I was still just bawling because I didn't want to be home! And that's basically how I feel right now... I'm super excited to be out here and there is literally nowhere else I'd rather be! So that makes it exciting! I LOVED the talks you sent me! "The Miracle of a Mission" by Elder Holland has been exactly how I've been feeling lately. I read that talk and just thought to myself, "What am I doing to make the spirit I feel out here a part of my everyday life? Am I changing my actions or am I changing my nature?" Our mission gives all the missionaries "Lock Your Heart" and "Consecrated Missionary", and we read them every transfer. So those were good refreshers :)

So we had a HUGE miracle! We've been teaching a guy whose girlfriend is a member of the church. He told us in our last lesson he felt drawn to being baptized, and knew he should do it, he just didn't know when. So we invited him to pray and think about it, and we'd do the same and we'd get back together later on and see what we think. My companion and I prayed over it and decided on August 23rd. So that's what we put down as when we thought he should do it. It was weird because it wasn't an overwhelming answer, but it just kinda felt right. Anyways we met with him last night and he told us he had gotten an answer and he felt like the 23rd was when he should be baptized. It was pretty crazy! I opened up my planner and showed him that we had had that date and he was like "woah wait up. How did you know that?" Haha it was cool! He's 20 and he could be a potential missionary! So this baptism is finally going to happen!

Also we had an interesting situation. We were biking down the street and I saw this lady on her porch so I pulled over on my bike and started talking to her. She was super open to us talking to her, and she asked a ton of good questions. We talked to her for about 45 minutes. We went back over Sunday after church and met up with them. Her boyfriend (we don't think they're married...) was there and invited us in. We walked in the house and it just felt empty. It was weird to explain but you just felt hollow when you walked in. Well they told us that they have had some pretty scary things happen in the home over the last 2 or 3 weeks, and then the day when we stopped by it picked up big time. They said it was really scary. So we offered to dedicate their home and we did so. It was so interesting because as soon as we dedicated the home that empty feeling was replaced. And as we kept talking it just felt so good. They even noticed it! It was super cool though because she was asking us what the purpose of this life is. She said that all these other churches teach once saved always saved, but she doesn't see how there's any purpose in our lives if we don't have anything to work for until after we've been saved. So we explained the first half of the Plan of Salvation and they LOVED it! They are super excited! He really wants to get to the point in his life where Christ is a friend, not just someone to call on when you're in trouble. And when we were leaving they said, "It feels so good in this house. Thanks for blessing it!" They told us that they have been trying to call other religious people to help them with it, but they couldn't get anyone to answer the phone. Then the next day we show up! They said it was a sign for them, and they're super interested! So it was another big miracle!

We gotta get going though, so love ya tons! Have a great week!