"Do I Smell Like Cigarettes?"

So this week we were at Western State to see Ceyhla (we used to spell

it 'Cheyla' but we figured out its spelled 'Ceyhla' which is still

weird but it makes a little more sense now) and as we were waiting for

the security guy to come check us for machetes, bazookas, knives,

etc., this other lady in her 20's came and stood by us. I didn't pay

much attention to her until she made this noise like she was

disgusted. I looked at her and all of the sudden she was walking up to

me with her up and out to her sides asking, "do I smell like

cigarettes?" She got super close, like WAY too close, so I panicked

and sniffed her really quick before reestablishing an appropriate

distance by taking a few steps back. I honestly didn't even register

what she smelled like because I was so uncomfortable but I told her

she smelled fine.

Then later in the week we were street contacting downtown and we

walked past this guy that was smoking. Elder Davis offered him a card

and he declined so I kept walking, but then I hear Elder Davis from

behind me ask "Have you ever wanted to quit smoking?" I turned around

he added "just curious". The guy glared at Elder Davis before replying

"Smoking isn't a sin....it's a wrong, there's a difference". Elder

Davis just chuckled and said "just asking", then we walked away

awkwardly. I guess the ideal answer we were looking for was "Yes! I

would love to but I don't know how! If only there was a book that I

could read that would give me the strength to quit!", but we weren't

that lucky. Needless to say cigarettes make for some great stories.

In other news, we found this lady that we assumed wasn't a member,

started teaching her, and then she told us she was baptized 2 years

ago in New York. However, yesterday when we tried to pull her records

into our ward we couldn't find them....so maybe she just thinks she

got baptized, or maybe she was baptized but never confirmed. Either

way she's interested and we call her on the phone every day that we

don't meet in person.

On Friday we were on exchanges with the Zone Leaders, Elder Beazer and

I were together, I love that guy. The Zone Leaders are YSA so whenever

we do exchanges with them we get to go find young people, which is

nice because they are always way more interested. While we were

leaving an apartment complex I saw this guy with headphones in playing

basketball. I felt like we should talk to him but he was in the zone,

literally making every shot he took and I didn't want to interrupt the

magic. So I started backing Elder Beazer out of our parking spot when

I felt the impression even stronger that we needed to talk to him. I

reluctantly opened the car door and told Elder Beazer to park the car.

We walked over to the court and he took out his headphones as we

walked up. I just told him straight up that while I hated to interrupt

his practice, I really felt like we needed to talk. From there we got

to know him, had a great discussion on grace, shared some verses from

the Book of Mormon, and exchanged contact information so we could meet

again. As we left I had the best feeling, I agree with Thomas S.

Monson when he said there is no greater feeling than responding to a

prompting from the Lord, I love it!

Alright well if you made it through this week congrats. I tried to

make it a good one since last week was just pictures. I'm loving

Staunton as always, it's super fun to be with Elder Davis and relive

our MTC memories while creating new ones out here in Virginia. I know

that the Book of Mormon is true without a doubt and there is nothing I

enjoy more than sharing with the people here. Love you guys!!