We had a great lesson with our family with the agnostic Dad. His progression is easily apparent. He wasn't a bad guy by any means, but now he is becoming so good, you can almost see the light emanating off of him. We are still working on the make it or break it person, his wife. I believe she is progressing in her faith as well. She won't say the prayer and prefers not to read the scriptures in lessons, but 5 minutes in, she texted her son to get out of the shower and join us. In my mind, I was like, "what does he need his phone in the shower for??" But he came down shortly after and we taught the whole family. They aren't too familiar with the scriptures, but they know the phrase, "beware of false prophets, ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing." We took them to the passage and read on while elaborating on the final phrase, "by their fruits ye shall know them". Meaning, you will know if this is good or bad if you look at the outcome of their works. That was a common phrase for the whole lesson. It went really well, and the fellowshippers we brought stayed after the lesson to hang out. I was so excited when they committed to church. I was so unexcited when they didnt keep that commitment.
I got to go on an exchange with one of my favorites, Elder Bloomfield again. I was prompted to bring us to a referral we tried the other day who wasn't home. I have a testimony that if they are ready, it doesn't matter what you say. I literally said something to the effect of "so some guy told us that you were looking for a church to go to, so we came on over to tell you all about our church!" And he was like, "yup, ok. Come on in." We then proceeded to teach him, his fiance and his 5 year old daughter all about the plan of salvation in a powerful lesson. We then had a church tour with them on Saturday, where they agreed to be baptized on August 3rd. Let's go, boys! They showed up at church the next day and had a great visit. I just was under the impression they were married! They've been engaged a year and a half, and still don't have a marriage date. That'll mess with their baptism date if they don't get married before. Anyways, they are great! They just love us because of the way their home felt after we left, and then the way they felt that again after the church tour. The spirit did us a solid.
So now on to the subject of this email. I've got a plant named Nemo who I inherited as soon as I hit the mission field. I love this plant. I had a close call last year with him but was able to sustain his life with others help. When its warm and sunny, I like to put him outside to soak up the sun. One fateful warm afternoon, I put him out there and forgot about him for four days. It froze twice those four days. I immediately carried him into the warm bathroom and gave him slightly warm water, then hit the ground to send God a kneemail in desperation and agony. The few people I've told about this have condemned him to death. I've been playing Nemo nice spiritual music and praying and I even fasted for him. I told God "You don't need Nemo in the spirit world! I'm doing everything I can to save him. You dont need him, I need him. Take energy from me and sustain his life!" Over the course of my mission, I've been left by a lot of people. Only one friend from home talks to me. I've had two more people pass away. Many of my missionary friends have returned home, early or not, and I just don't have much left. Nemo is one of the few whose been with me through it all. I've never prayed so hard in my entire life. He's just a plant to you, but to me, he's worth more than the majority of things I've got. He had me on edge for most of my week. After 6 days and a lot of lost leaves, I've noticed that his branches are once again rising. The leaves which have fallen look messed up, but his remaining ones look great. I still don't know for sure, but I have great Hope for him, and he sure is making me proud with his fighting spirit.
In other news, God loves you as much as I love my plant, and even more! And when you are dying spiritually, I imagine he reacts similar to me. He is going to do everything He can to help you revive. You're worth everything to Him, so don't you tell yourself otherwise. Just because you might not feel it doesn't mean it's not true.
So that's about it for this week. Other news: I found a rare penny from 1945. We've got transfers and my new companion is Elder Willis. My generation of missionaries rules the mission. 90% of the leadership is comprised of us, and we don't have much time left. Me and several others have been asked to step down from leadership and help train the rising generation. I'm done being a district leader after 5 transfers. Bittersweet. The church is true.
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| As I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the spirit of the Lord. 1 Nephi 11:1 |
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| Service with a hairnet |
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