Hi everyone!
It feels like two weeks have gone by since the last Monday because of everything that's been crammed into this past week. I barely know where to start.
Well, I guess first it was better week for teaching than last week. We had about twice as many lessons. We still had a lot cancel, but last week was a lot worse. Unfortunately we've hit some bumps in the road. Ann isn't sure if she still wants to baptized. But after listening and trying to understand where she's coming from, it seems like it's not so much a matter of belief as it is just feeling overwhelmed. She's got a lot going on right now. Her husband died a few months ago, and she's still coming to terms with that. Physically she's not been feeling great. And what we're teaching her is quite new to her, and at around 80 years old, it's just harder for her to change her way of thinking about things. I felt like I should offer her a priesthood blessing, and she accepted, and we gave her one. Our ward mission leader who was there with us called us the next day and told us she called him and told him she felt 900% better after that and that we're making a believer out of her. I love things like that. Those are those treasures that we as missionaries live for. Hopefully she'll continue to improve and receive answers to her prayers.
So that was a miracle. And Monday-Thursday just went really well. Unfortunately all our lessons on Friday fell through, and all but one on Saturday. And that stinks because we were in exchange too (which was an adventure in and of itself. Elder Nordstrom is super goofy!) And that one lesson didn't quite go as planned. We were teaching the Word of Wisdom to Ryan, and we found out he has some pretty serious word of wisdom concerns (and I'm talking way more serious than just coffee or tea) that he doesn't feel like he should change. We couldn't get him to commit to live it, so we committed him to at least pray about it. Hopefully he decides to, not only for his physical/mental health, but also because he can't get baptized if he's refuses to keep that commandment. I really hope he changes his mind.
Also, our finding is way down. July is usually a bit slower anyway, but this is just ridiculous. We haven't found a new investigator in three weeks. That's bad. And we've really been working our hardest. But now we're out of referrals, and have almost zero prospects. And it's not just this area. This "drought" seems to be affecting the entire zone. I don't know why. We're working hard. We're working smart. But we're just not succeeding. I really hope we can somehow break out of that soon.
But here's more miracles. So Reagan got her interview with President Smith, and he's getting a letter put together for the 1st Presidency to allow her to get baptized even if she can't get off parole (which
looks like it'll be rather complicated). So that's exciting that that process is finally started. Hopefully it goes fast! Also, I talked to President Smith about some kids who want to get baptized. Their mom
(Mona) just got baptized in May, so she's supportive, but their dad left them and is somewhere in Mexico. Technically we're supposed to have permission from both parents, but President Smith said since the dad is totally out if the picture with pretty much no chance of coming back, to just get them baptized! Their baptism will be July 30th.
Now for a major development of the week with our apartment situation. The Santa Clara Elders, Elder Robinson and Elder Moore got a new companion on Tuesday, a greenie serving a trial mission before going to Turkey. His name is Elder Earl. Anyway, there wasn't enough room in the Santa Clara apartment, so, after a couple discussions, first with the housing coordinators, and then with me, President Smith decided to move Santa Clara in with us (we have plenty of space), on the condition that if it starts being a distraction, I'll report it. Well, it's actually been going great. If anything, I think it's been beneficial because with extra missionaries holding everyone accountable, we've been getting ready for the day a little faster, and we're much less likely to fall asleep during studies, and our planning sessions have been more structured. Also it's nice because when we do companionship studies, we can sometimes combine it with Santa Clara, so we get more ideas and input, and if we do role plays, we have more people so it's way more realistic and less freakishly awkward than regular companionship one on one role plays. Anyway, it's going well, and it is also fun to see them more often (though we still don't see them hardly at all during the day because we're out working in our
respective areas).
Well, that's about it for this P-Day. Have a great week!
-Elder Oswald
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