It's good to hear about the family and that everything is doing well! Congrats to Emma tomorrow for turning 8 and I hope that you can feel of my love to you as my present for your birthday! I will write you a little letter today! Good to hear that andrew is doing better! Tell that fooboo to take it easy! Anywho...
This week has been a pretty good week. We taught a man from Indonesia named Daniel about the Word of Wisdom this week. He told us that he has a real desire to change and recognizes that we are the people to go to for that change to happen. But just doesn't put his words into action... which, turns out, is what the gospel is based off of. We caught him the next day smoking andhe told us that it happens when he thinks too much. So a couple of days later we preached nothing but repentance to him. As he recieves a testimony of the Book of Mormon I am SURE it will be a lot easier. Li from China is still getting closer to baptism. We told him to write a letter to the representatives in China about his communist situation. Allan (one of our recent converts from India) was able to come with us to a teach and bare testimony to him about Baptism and how much BETTER life is after it. Li then promised us that if his situation in China would be safe, then he would be baptized! So we just are awaiting for a reply from the representatives. Michelle has been busy this week but what we are planning on doing is meeting with all of our new converts and our positive investigators at our Ward Mission Leader's house on Tuesday, where a very spiritual member will talk about the Book of Mormon. We can feel that this will be a very special experience tomorrow night! So we are bringing Michelle to that. This last weekend the Borås Ward took a trip to the stockholm temple. For the past weeks we were working super hard to get our recent converts to go on that trip. The ward mission leader and us thought that the men needed to have the priesthood before they went. They asked the Stake President and he said they didn't have to. So we taught them about the temple, got them interviews to go, and they called the temple presidency and told them that they did, indeed need the priesthood.
So we got them excited for some other, soon in the future, trip to the Stockholm Temple! A central focus right now that we are working with the ward with is getting the 6 recent converts to the temple during this next transfer! Of course, if we find some prepared on the way and they accept baptism, we will do that. But there is no point in doing missionary work if you don't hang on to the fruits you have already been blessed with! Colette, our recent convert from the Ivory Coast has been told from the government to return back home. So she will be eaving in a couple of weeks. Sad story, but these things happen a lot. Our Swedish man (who has a little case of autism) Henrik continues to progress. He goes off topic a lot which keeps it really hard to stay on topic and invite the spirit. But just this last teach with him we finally got our point off he told us he knew the Book of Mormon was the word of God but he just wasn't accepting the authority only in this church. So we showed him the scripture in D&C abot the Fullness is in the Bible and Book of Mormon and that it is only those with authority that can baptize. that invited the spirit. We asked him to give the closing prayer, and he gave a long, heart-felt prayer searching for truth. When he was done, he looked up at us and he had tears in his eyes. Knowing he felt the Spirit, we asked him how he felt. Being autistic he wasn't sure. But we told him that it was the Holy Ghost testifying to him the truth.
I was able to go to Trollhättan area to see how the work is going there. The student from Portugal wasn't home, which was too bad. But it was a good time to be with Elder Erickson. They spend a lot of time with their recent convert and don't have many investigators right now. So not much is going on with them. When we switched back Elder Nelson told me he was glad to have me back. That felt really good when he said that to me. He said the elder he did exchanges with pretty much ate food all during studies and wasn't that obedient. So I am really glad and blessed to have a companion who is humble and diligent. He is a good man!
Yesterday, Sunday, was a pretty rough day for us. We taught a man named Yassine who said that he really wanted to go to church and said he would see us there. He wanted to come to all 3 hours! But he didn't show up. Nathaniel from Nigeria came up to us a while ago and asked us what he needed to do to become a missionary, we told him he needed to be a member in our church, he then asked us how do i do that? And we told him he needs to be baptized. So we had lost contact with him for a while, then saturday night he called us and said he would meet us in the bus place so we could go to church together because he wanted to come! But he didn't show. We didn't have any investigators in church. Bishop came back from his trip to Utah and saw that and gave me a look of "you can do better" but I was still comforted in the fact that we really tried our best to get our investigators to church. And then bishop realizes that. It's amazing what a bishop trusting the missionary can bring! Over this past year I have realized the following. 1. Get the trust of the Bishop and the Ward mission leader 2. Work your hardest with the members 3. Hit the pavement and bring investigators to church so they can see you work!
Then miracles really do happen and the impossible becomes possible! We have both 1 and 3 down pretty well but are focusing on our #2.
The work is going great, last night we went tracting after a hard day and a man from Turkey told us to come back tonight and we also tracted into a family of 6 from Lebanon. Who were christian and were interested in talking to us! So we shall see where these take us!
I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and for writing me! I really am thankful for it.
The Church is TRUE, and the U of U... as long as they beat... the infamous TCU! (P.S. that rhymed)
Go Utes!
Love,
The Wad
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