Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Pops, JC & The Spook

            The title of this email is how one of the less active members described the Godhead to his nonmember fiancé.  It’s a little more than irreverent, but I had a good chuckle when he said it, so I thought I'd share. 

This week was somehow really slow and really eventful at the same time. All week it seemed like nothing much was happening but looking back a ton of really cool stuff was going on the whole time. I guess I've just been seeing so many miracles that I've stopped noticing them when they are right in front of me. 

One really cool thing that we got to do this week was go on splits with Mini-Missionaries. The Stake has a program every year with the Young Men.  It is where the Priest age Young Men have the opportunity to go out with the Missionaries for a whole day and just do what Missionaries do. So Friday evening a couple of young men showed up at our apartment and the adventure began! Planning was nightmare because we had to work out two days’ worth of plans... but for the same day, and be sure that we wouldn't be bumping into each other or trying to talk to the same people. In the end we just went with the really simple solution of kicking the other companionship off our turf. Elder M and Brother J went south of town and Brother W and I stayed north of town. Our day together was fairly uneventful for which I was a little sorry, you don't want to go on a Mini-Mission just to stop by people who aren't even home, or knock on doors to have people tell you that they are busy and can’t meet today. When all was said and done we only got into someone’s house one time all day, and were able to share a brief message, but both of the people there became new investigators though, so not a total loss. 

By the sound of things Elder M and Brother J's day was by far more exciting, they almost died while driving south. Apparently the car spun out, and they were headed into oncoming traffic but Brother S, who was driving them, was able to recover control of the vehicle and they survived unscathed.

I got to drive the car here, Elder M usually drives, and I didn't realize how much I missed driving. It had just snowed so the roads were pretty interesting but the most exciting thing that happened to us here was that we almost got stuck pulling out of a driveway once. 

Sunday was an adventure, we had a High Council member visiting again and his speaking companion was a young man who just got his call to serve his mission in Japan. Pretty exciting stuff! They both gave excellent talks, and after church the Branch had a potluck for them so they wouldn't have to drive back hungry. After the potluck Brother R took the Mini-Missionaries back home, and Brother M (The High Council member) asked us to accompany him south to see an old friend of his named B who has just recently moved there. We didn't have any appointments planned for that afternoon (just stopping by potential investigators) so we said we'd tag along. We had a good talk with B, left him a Book of Mormon and Brother M was able to bear a powerful testimony. The Spirit was there for sure and it was obvious that B was feeling it. Afterward Brother M said that he had never seen B that way before.

After B's, Brother M continued on his way south and Elder M and I were left to our own devices. We tried knocking on a really fancy looking house that said "M" on the gate (Elder M was really excited about it) but we couldn't work out how to get past the gate so we decided to go see a guy named A that Elder D and I had found on an Exchange a few weeks back. A was home and we were able to have a really good lesson with him about the Plan of Salvation, and he seemed to really enjoy it. He believes really strongly in the Bible and he hasn't been baptized in any church even though he knows that it is really important. We haven't even talked about the Word of Wisdom yet but he already knows that smoking is something he wants to give up before he gets baptized. He seems really solid and open to learning new things about the Gospel. We'll be seeing him again on Wednesday on our way to our District meeting. 

After A's we stopped by to see B and K, they just got back from a trip where they bought a shiny new orange Jeep. It’s Beautiful.  They are both so solid, B has a great testimony of the Gospel and that is helping K so much. Sister W (the RS President) lives nearby and she is going over to visit K this week so that (hopefully) K can feel comfortable coming to church (and have a ride to church). While we were there B was telling us about how he had found all of his church DVDs (Joy to the World, Finding Faith in Christ, & The Restoration) and how they had set down together and watched all of them (more than once). We will be taking them a copy of The Testaments the next time we see them (which will probably be Friday or Saturday).

Yesterday, being Monday, was supposed to be P-day, but that didn't so much happen. Right at 10:00 we had a lesson with an older lady named T, we had a wonderful talk about God and Brother D (who accompanied us) was able to bear a great (cowboy-ish) testimony. 

At 11:00 we went with our Branch President to see an elderly woman who just started her own business selling meat pies and who had come to church with us on Sunday. I just hope I feel that great when I'm her age!

In the evening we went to visit a less active member named J and her husband, P. They fed us dinner (coincidentally also meat pie). J is a very sweet lady and a joy to talk to. Both P and she are from England and just listening to them talk is the greatest. P isn't interested in religion just yet, but is a riot to talk to. He has one of the greatest senses of humor. 

To continue on with the theme of Pie (or Pi) we met this super cool guy named B, who is the art teacher here at the high school.  He invited us into his house and showed us all his art and the stuff he's working on and we talked a lot about eternity, infinity, and of course pi.

That’s about all I have time for this week guys. I love you lots and am thinking about you... occasionally. ;) 

Elder Thomson

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