Trying to Talk to Everyone

Well things here this week have been really good. It was definitely a weird week this week. Since Halloween was on Sunday we had the whole weekend for trick or treating so we couldn't be out after dark. So we tried to get lessons and appointments but just ended up being with members which was great. We had alot of appointments cancel which has been disappointing but I am beginning to realize that the gift of agency can be used for good and bad. I am grateful that the Lord is blessing me with patience. This week truly has been a week of miracles. We have had alot of really spiritual experiences with our investigators this week and alot of people. I am learning everyday the magnitude of my call. I am beginning to feel really bad if I don't talk to someone that I pass. I am grateful that I am on bikes so that I can stop no matter what and talk to someone. Its scary!!! For some reason I get intimidated but the Lord is answering my prayers and I have seen a difference in myself this past week. I have prayed for the strength to talk to everyone. When I would pass someone the spirit would help me turn around and go and talk to them. It has truly helped our goal of reaching those 10 QGC's everyday. It is hard but I know if I talk to everyone the Lord will trust me to teach his elect and he will put them in my path. We have seen that this week with our tracting efforts. We knocked alot of doors and didnt have much success but the Lord did bless us for our diligence. We got 4 or 5 appointments this week from just contacting people. It was really wonderful. Definitely a tender mercy from the Lord!

Well our investigators are doing pretty good.

We taught Sister Rodriguez this week on Monday. She is doing wonderful. She continues to read her scriptures, specifically out of the Book of Mormon each day. We give her a phone call, along with her sister who is a less active, everyday and they don't answer most of the time but it definitely has increased my testimony of why it is so important to have daily contact with our investigators. We had a really great lesson with her on the first part of the Plan of Salvation. She is a bit of a slow learner which is actually a blessing to me. Its helping me learn to teach slower and ask alot of inspired understanding questions. I think that I sometimes take for granted that they know what were talking about but in reality they have no idea what we are talking about. So I am learning how to teach for understanding. The spirit was so strong in our members home, the Grays( Our ward mission leader). They have been the perfect fellowshippers for her. They call her a few times a week to make sure she is doing good. She didn't come to Church yesterday and were kind of confused why she didn't but we have a lesson with her tonight so we will figure out why she didn't attend.

Ian McLeod is doing wonderful. I can't tell you how excited I am for him. I have never had any investigator come so prepared for a lesson before. Whey we got into his home we sat down and saw that he had a pad of paper full of questions. We challenged him last time to write down any questions that he had and asked his wife to help him out with that. She is less active and doesn't know the gospel so well and so every time he would ask her a question she would write it down for him. He also wrote some questions down that he had when he was reading out of the scriptures and the pamphlet. It was so exciting to see that he was prepared. We prepare all week to go over there and teach him and it was really nice to see that he did the same. I can tell that he is becoming converted to the gospel. He even offered to give the opening prayer. Elder Scott and I were just beaming that whole lesson. The spirit was there so strong. The spirit was helping us ask inspired questions but also helping Brother McLeod to ask inspired questions. He is on the road to accepting the gospel. We taught him about the Restoration. He felt that it was true when we taught it to him. He just feels good and cheerful. His countenance is changing. I am so excited that I get to be apart of this significant experience. We asked him if he found out all this was true would he be baptized? He said her would if he found out all this was true. So were praying really hard for him!!! He is definitely on the road to finding out its true!!!

We met with Sariah this week and she is so excited for her baptism. Its actually quite comical. She talks about it all the time in our lesson. We finished teaching her the commandments and at the end of the lesson she was like "is that all I need to know to be baptized?" We told her "yes" and she started clapping for joy. " Faith like a little child" is definitely evident in this situation. It is truly bringing her family together as well. Darline's countenance is changing each time we come over. She really wants to be re-baptized. John (who is a non member) has really warmed up to us. He went from not talking to us to now talking to us to the point that if we kept talking we would be late for our next appointment. Having members come with us has been really key in his "changing of heart" We already have lined up, through the Bishops direction, who is going to be teaching the New Member Lessons. We are really excited about this couple. They are ward missionaries and its going to be really great. John already has a great connection with Brother Carroll and Sister Carroll and Darline talk a lot so its going to be great.

Our new investigator for the week, Matt Turcotte, is a friend of a member in our ward. He had been taught by the missionaries about 3 years ago. We read up on his progress record and had a really great lesson with him. He goes to the Church of Christ and has for a long time. He had some really inspired questions when we talked with him. He asked alot of questions on the apostasy so were going to help him understand the apostasy a bit better in our next lesson and help him see in the bible where it talks about it. He reads the bible alot and knows it very well so teaching him is going to help me become more acquainted with the bible and helping him see where it testifies of things in the Book of Mormon. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he is really excited to read out of it. He seems like he has alot of potential. He has a big family. He has 5 kids, who are all 8 and older. I think the Oldest is 19. So there is alot of potential with that family. We only met with him because I think he wants to get a feel for it before his family hears the message as well. So we will see how that goes.

We have been trying to meet with alot of the less actives and part member families. We just updated our map and area book this week and saw that we have alot of part member families in our area. So we are definitely going to be focusing more on them and helping them come unto Christ.