September 4, 2017
A couple interesting things happened this week. Randy bought Elder Merrill a guitar. He had been gotten pretty good. I'm a little jealous, that's definitely a hobby I want to pursue when I get home. Unfortunately, Elder Merrill texted President and asked if he can keep it, and President says he has to send it home. Elder Merrill is a little bummed about that.
On Wednesday night, we taught a referral named J. He and his family were on vacation in Georgia, when their car broke down. As he was trying to figure out what happened, some missionaries pulled over and helped him fix the car, and shared a quick message and passed his information on to us. One of those missionaries, Elder Hatfield, just happened to be in Elder Merrill's MTC district. Our lesson with J went really well. We taught the Restoration very clearly, and he really enjoyed it. He was very resolved to read the Book of Mormon. His kids are super funny, they are a cute family. J didn't commit to baptism because he wants to read the Book of Mormon first, but things are looking super positive.Thursday was my year mark, and also the day that the after shock of Hurricane Harvey hit Memphis. It rained really hard all day, the wind got pretty strong as well. I wore my winter coat to keep warm. It made missionary work pretty rough. We thought a lot of people would be home because of the storm, but almost no one we tried was there, and the people who were told us they were busy. One guy even told us he couldn't meet with us because he wanted to take a shower. I was hoping for a miracle year mark day. Eventually when it got late, the storm was getting worse so we went in early because we had no more people to try. No one showed up to English class, except a man named Jorge that we have visited a couple times, except he just likes to question our doctrine. So he showed up with us and started talking about some weird prophecy in Revelations, so we sat and listened for a half hour, then he left. So stayed at the church for a bit then went home early.
On Friday, we found out that we as a mission will be using Facebook, and getting Samsung smartphones, which will go into full effect in January. It's pretty big news, not very many missions have that approved yet. I think the only other mission with smartphones right now is one of the New York City missions. Facebook will be nuts.
On Saturday Elder Sotomarino and Elder Anaya baptized their investigators M and F. That were also married just before the baptism. It really was something beautiful. I was so happy for Elder Anaya. I can't believe he goes home in 10 days. My dad is dying...so sad. His sister is moving to Georgia and
In studies I have been reading about Samuel the Lamanite. Helaman 15:15 stuck out to me. Talking about the Lamanites, it says: "For behold, had the mighty works been shown unto them which have been shown unto you, yea, unto them who have dwindled in unbelief because of the traditions of their fathers, ye can see of yourselves that they never would again have dwindled in unbelief." As I read about this I thought of all the incredible spiritual experiences I've had on the mission, and all the miracles that I have seen. I realized that I, like the Nephites, am quick to forget. I forget all the blessings, tender mercies, and life changing experiences I have had here. I get so caught up in self-pity sometimes, and focus on the negative. There are so many blessings from the mission, I can't forget that.
I am truly blown away with how weak I am, and how much I depend on the Lord. Without Him, I am nothing, and have no purpose. With Him I truly "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13
I have so little time left and so much to do. I pray that I can truly consecrate this last year to the Lord and serve him with all my heart, might, mind and strength.
Love y'all!
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