5/26/2014

5/26/2014

This past week was absolutely incredible! MAN! We were able to find 4 new investigators! One of them, Eric, is an absolutely amazing man! He has quite a few struggles and at first, was not happy to see us because he thought we were solicitors for the Book of Mormon, but he lost his wife of 31 years a little while ago and we were able to bear testimony of the Plan of Salvation and have a really special spiritual experience with him! He is getting baptized on June 28th! All he has to overcome right now is some Word of Wisdom problems but he is dedicated and even asked us if he could get baptized before then! It was amazing. :) The Lord's hand is everywhere! Also, we got to meet 2 other new people, They are so wonderful! She had so many great questions for us. She spent a lot of time asking us about the Spirit World and Heaven because she loves her family SO much and lost her father a little while back. It was such a precious experience to see the tears come into her eyes and the spirit touch her heart as we shared these beautiful truths with her. In the end, she asked us what it would take for her and her husband to be sealed together for time and all eternity. Wow....... I know!! We explained baptism, church attendance, following the commandments and a couple other things to them. She is so on board! We are meeting with them again tomorrow and before then, she is going to read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and several of the pamphlets we left with her. It was an experience I'll treasure forever. :)

 Also, I got to go to Idaho Falls for a Missionary Leadership Council! The Council was all about how we need to up our game you could say! This past Stake Conference, President Brinkerhoff had the opportunity to be with Elder Perry and have lunch with him. Right now, the statistics for every missionary in the IPM baptizing monthly is 6 per missionary and comes out to be 1,500 baptisms per year, mission wide. Well, not anymore!! Elder Perry told President that THAT is not enough! He wants 20 baptisms per year per companionship, which comes out to 2,500 baptisms per year! When it comes down to it, the number isn't everything, it's just a way of tracking our diligence BUT a fire is being lit in the IPM! We are so very excited for everything that is happening! The Council was an incredible thing to be a part of. We have already seen the increase of blessings from the Lord as well! :)

 Overall, I love this place and I KNOW that the Lord is a part of this work, for it is HIS work. Also, this past week, I was able to go on exchanges with my Zone Leader, Elder Adkins. I learned a lot about having the spirit in our apartment, teaching with simplicity, listening, asking questions, and being obedient. It really was an incredible experience and I'm excited for the coming days! Mmmm..... what else........ Oh! We got to go to Texas Roadhouse with the Ficas! Haha! One of our Ward Mission Leaders couldn't find a dinner for us one night so he told us to try and find one and get back to him. We found one! haha! AND, it was absolutely incredible! Good food and GREAT company! Whoo! This past week was so incredible, I just don't even know how to put it all into words. I just want to let ya know that I'm happy and well!