 |
| David. On his bike. With no hands.... |
 |
| hno Garcia aka "the branch GIANT"... in spirit. One of my best friends from McKinney! |
 |
| Family Home Evening at the Garcia's, last night in McKinney. |
 |
| Kassandra(investigator) and Clarita Garcia(going to Germany on her mission in October!) |
 |
| Gustavo, homie from McKinney! |
 |
| The apartment in McKinney! |
 |
| McKinney apartment! |
 |
| Kitchen in the McKinney apartment! |
 |
| The trio! |
 |
| hna Garcia made me pinky promise that I would come back to visit them! |
Greetings loved ones!
Elder Alkonis and I had a busy and interesting week. Garland is starting to become familiar. We have a really small area, so it shouldn't take too much longer.
The English Elders that overlap areas with us, Elder Truman and Elder Meads, are both from Vegas and they are a real hoot! Their apartment got bedbugs a couple of weeks ago, so on Tuesday they moved in with us and it has been a party ever since. They are probably some of the best friends I've made on the mission yet. I don't think I have laughed as much and as hard as I have this past week since the MTC! So having them in the apartment with us has definitely made this last week an adventure to remember.
Thursday was 50 CENT CORNDOG DAY at SONIC. So you better believe we took advantage of that and made a few stops there throughout the day. I ended the day with 10 corndogs. Due to late and unplanned appointments, we were unable to make our last trip to SONIC at the end of the day to reach our goal of 15, but apparently they do it three or four times a year, so I will have another chance.
So yesterday we showed up to Church about ten minutes before sacrament meeting to find out that the four Elders of the branch were the speakers. That was a pleasant surprise. But we filled up the time and I thought it went quite well considering the circumstances. We also had to do a primary sharing time, which was kind of fun! My mission has made me come a long way.
So one of our investigators right now is a lady named Angelica. The missionaries that we replaced had just barely found her days before they left. The first time we met her was days after she was in a bad car accident. We walked into her house and she was laying down on a bed in the front room, covered with big and severe bruises. She told us that a chiropractor told her that not a single disc in her spine was in place! She said she really wanted to cancel our appointment, but at the same time, she really wanted to meet us and listen to our message. That was the first good sign. We had a great first lesson with her. She had lots of questions and has a sincere desire to better her life and come closer to God. We told the RS president about her and her situation, and she immediately got involved in helping and supporting Angelica. She went over that Sunday with one of her counselors to meet her and see if she needed anything. She took Angelica's kids to school in the mornings and picked them up in the afternoons for the first few days of school. She passes by and sends her text messages regularly to check up on her. Talk about a good member missionary! Members like that sure bring a big smile to our faces. Our second appointment with Angelica was on Saturday. We gave her a blessing and she accepted an invitation to be baptized on the 27th of this month without hesitation. We have a really good feeling about her!
On Monday we had a neat experience when we knocked on the door of a lady named Maria H. She tried to give us what we get just about everyday, and it goes about like this: "Oh I've talked to muchachos like you before, I'm Catholic but all churches are good, it's all one God, I appreciate what y'all do, but I do not need your message." That probably sounds familiar to a lot of you reading. It would have been easy to just give her a card, walk away and leave it at that, but I got a little pushy and convinced her to give us 10 minutes of her time. We started to share the Restoration with her and she was surprisingly focused and genuinely interested. As she listened to the words of the First Vision, she got emotionally and began to cry, and she said that those were very powerful and beautiful words. The Spirit has been present many times when I have shared the First Vision with people, and I know that other people have felt the Spirit as it has been shared, but never have I seen the First Vision bring anybody to tears. Normal words do not do that to people! There is nothing neater than feeling the Spirit confirm and testify of the words leaving your mouth, and then seeing the impact it has on other people. It was just another confirmation to me that what we share is TRUE, and all people need the joyous message of the Restoration! I am proud and grateful to be able to say that I have a testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration of the Gospel and Church of Jesus Christ.
-I have not yet received the package. Hopefully today!
-A counter would be nice to be able to count all the people that I contact per day!
-As district leader I give district meetings usually every Tuesday, I report numbers to zone leaders Sunday nights, and I give baptismal interviews to the investigators of the missionaries in my district. I did that for the first time this week and it was kinda weird, but pretty easy. Then I also just serve and support and encourage the missionaries in my district, and I'm also supposed to set somewhat of an example. And I go on exchanges! So nothing too special.
-Sister Holm is a lifesaver!
Have fun on the trip and take lots of pictures! The Zach you met at Braxton's homecoming I'm guessing was Zach Adams. I was a freshman when he was a senior. I'm surprised he remembered me! But that's neat that you went and got to see Braxton! Tom is sounding like quite the thrill seeker this days and I'm loving it! It is good to hear about life in the 801. I love everybody!
Elder Williams
No comments:
Post a Comment