Email Sesenta

October 9, 2017 

Hey Family!

Elder Merrill broke his wrist, so this week flew by. We really tried to focus on using Facebook to find people to teach, and maintain contact with investigators. We were finally able to find.
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On Friday Elder Klebingat of the First Quorum of the Seventy visited the Tennessee side of the mission. President asked us to fast in preparation for the meeting, starting at noon on Thursday, and ending at noon the next day. So Thursday at 11, I downed 10 Kings Hawaiian sweet rolls, and drank a whole gallon of water so I would be able to make it through the day on bikes. It turned out to work pretty good, I just had to go to the bathroom every half hour for the next 4 hours.

We went to the library and worked on Facebook for a while. Then we went and taught a lady from El Salvador named C. She told us she knows she needs to start going to a church, so that her kids can grow up with good principles, she just doesn't know which church. She then asked us why there are so many different churches. She said that she had asked the last missionaries that visited her the same question, but they never answered her. I was pretty surprised by that, since that's one of the major questions that the message of the Restoration answers, so we re-taught the Restoration focusing specifically on that question, teaching clearly the doctrine of the Great Apostasy.

The lesson went really well, we will probably have to pass her off to the Hermanas though. After that we went and visited a less active named Rene Hernandez. Rene is from Cuba, he moved to Miami. Then on a trip to Salt Lake, he met the missionaries and went to temple square and fell in love with the church. He got baptized and attended a Spanish Ward in Miami actively for over a year. He then married a Jehovah's Witness, moved to Memphis, and went inactive.

Apparently during that time, he has forgotten the significance of the Restoration. He talks a lot. He basically believes that the only two good churches are the "Mormon church" and the Jehovah's Witnesses. He talked so much that we couldn't testify about the Restoration to him. However, two of his buddies came over, so he had them sit down and told them how much he loves the church. We were able to send them both friend requests on Facebook, so hopefully we will be able to start teaching them. Then we had English class and closed out the day.

The next day was awesome. Being able to hear from Elder a Klebingat was such a blessing. He is from Germany, but speaks perfect English. He served a mission in Colorado, I assume it was the same mission as Dad's. Elder Klebingat isn't afraid to offend people, he says it like it is. I love his bold style, it definitely makes you sit upright and listen.

One of the questions that I wrote down, pondered, and fasted about in preparation for the meeting with Elder Klebingat was "Who am I?". As he was speaking, he looked me straight in the eye, and said "We are going to talk about the pre-mortal life, who you are, and why in the world you're here." My jaw dropped. As he instructed about the pre-mortal life, I learned more about who I am, and peace and gratitude came to my heart as my testimony that he was called of God, and that Heavenly Father was aware of me grew. He also talked about the Book of Mormon, and that using it correctly will serve our mission for us.

I want to close with my testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the true restored church of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is our Savior. To know Him is to know everything that is good. Have a wonderful week everyone!
No photos this week sorry! love y'all!

Elder Jonathan Spencer Smalley
Arkansas Little Rock Mission