This last week was pretty great. Monday night we were able to meet with Nathan P. His two friends Matthew and Brian were there again, and we counted them as new investigators, as it was their second lesson, and they are going to continue coming. The lesson went much better. We were able to teach about Christ's Ministry, and help them see the Book of Mormon testifies and teaches of Christ, and that is one of the roles of a prophet. Brian is still a little antagonistic, and at the end of the lesson I asked them to think about their intent, because if they have no real intent then they will not receive the answer. Just like any math equation, if you skip a variable you will get no answer, or a different one. We also met with Tyson O again, and had another great lesson. We discussed faith, and what it means to us, and how the Book of Mormon can help to increase our faith. We invited him to read from it everyday, and he said that he would.

Tuesday we did a fair amount of tracting. The first street we knocked every door answered. It was incredible. We were able to offer our message to everyone on that street, and a few of them said that we could come back at another time. We also met with a woman named Merone. She is from Africa, and has been in the states for 13 years. She has one daughter, about 3. She is a caretaker for a member in our ward. The member asked us to come by, and we were able to teach her about the restoration. It was really neat. She is very curious, and open to learning more. Later that night we met with Clancy G. We also taught him about the restoration, and missionary work. We talked about the imprtance of sharing this, and inviting others to learn more.

Zone Conference on Wednesday was incredible. I felt the Spirit, and learned things that I could improve on. I am especially focusing on my studies to try and make them more effective. If I truly learn, and understand this Gospel, my desire will increase, and everthing else will improve. After Zone Conference we squeezed in an hour of tracting before we had to go to Cedar Mill for the baptismal interviews. That was such a sweet experience. I was able to share with them the importance of the step they were making, feel the Spirit as they bore their testimony, and I bore mine, and teach them what they could do to endure to the end. I found them both ready, and they were baptized on Saturday. We finished that night with a lesson with the Williams. They are moving to Tennesse in April, and have no real desire to change at the current time. They have excusses to not come to Church, and they are going to keep with those. It is sad to see.

Thursday we taught Dirk R again. We read through 2 Nephi 31, focusing on God, and his love. He gives us things we can understand, and even though there is only one way back to him, he sent his son to show us they way, and gave us prophets to teach us the way, so that everyone could do it. He doesn't want any of us to be lost. We did splits that night, and I went with the Bateman to see Howard M, and we talked about what God has done for us in our lives, and read through 1 Nephi 17. We all came to the conclusion that God does a lot for us, and we can choose to be like Nephi, and recognize it, and be grateful. Or we can be like Laman and Lemuel, and ignore God's hand, and murmer and complain. While I was teaching Howard, Elder Lott went with brother Sasse to visit some less-actives and potentials. He was able to find someone after looking for someone else, who let him in, and they were able to teach. His name was Moe. he is from New Zealand, and we have an appointment with him tonight.

Friday I had my exchange with Elder Auwen in his area. The only thing to really report is Elder Auwen is disobedient, and doesn't care. He complained about Elder Bishop most of the time, and we didn't go out and do anything. I feel bad for Elder Bishop for having to deal with that. I know that he is trying to make it better, but you can't do it yourself, I told him a few things that helped me when I was with Elder Fifita, but I don't think that he will do them. He is in the "wait it out" mode, and is just going to unhappily deal with it untill he gets transferred.

Saturday was much better. We were able to go out and work. We tracted, followed up on potentials. The most notable thing from that day is when we were visiting potentials, we decided to visit the Rivers family in the same complex, and sister Rivers looked the best that I have ever seen her. She was healthier, and happy. We talked to her mother on Sunday, and she mentioned the change that had taken place. It was really cool to see.

Sunday was awesome. We had three lessons cancel. That may sound like it was less than optimal, but if the lessons hadn't fallen through then we wouldn't have had such great success. We were able to do some tracting after the first one, and we gave away two Book of Mormons to jewish persons. We went to a different street, and a man named Todd let us in. We gave a Book of Mormon to him, and taught him a little, before his wife came home and told us that Jesus didn't teach about Church. We went to see a less active member, and were able to leave a Book of Mormon with a nonmember roommate, and set up a return appoinment. And, to top it off, we went to see some members, and were turned down by both, but as we were leaving the complex, we decided to knock on a door that we had tried multiple times before with no luck. This time someone answered, and was willing to hear our message. We taught him the entire first lesson on the doorstep, and left him with a copy of the Book of Mormon as well. His name was Paul, and he has been searching for himself and for God. We are meeting with him on Friday. It was a great end to a great week.

 

Also, I bought some industrial strength rubber glue on Monday, and was able to glue my shoe back together, and it is waterproof as well, so I won't need to send them back. They will hold up till I get home, and then I won't need them anymore.

 

I am having a hard time remembering who the Toones are. Are they the people that moved in across the street in that tall house? I may have a face, but I'm not sure.

 

Did you put more money on my card this last week? Or is that from the start of the month? I have been keeping better track of what I spent, and $99 seems too much.

Love,

Elder Schultz