Transfers!

Hey y'all! So transfer calls came on Saturday and Elder Tanner is
headed out. I'm kinda bummed, we thought we would stay together one
more, but I'm also stoked I get stay here in Staunton! As always I'm
absolutely in love with this place so another transfer here is a dream
come true.

This week was full of ups and downs. Remember all of those new
Investigators we found? Yeah we dropped all of them haha, BUT we've
found a couple more that have some promise so no worries. I'll give
you the run down on a few of them.

First up is James, he had been taught a long time ago and we called
him on a whim (AKA the spirit) on Saturday to see if he wanted to meet
again and he said "Sure! Why don't you come over tomorrow?". So
yesterday we had a GREAT lesson with him. He is from Kenya and has
only been in the US for 5 years. We were able to share the message of
the restoration with him and it went really well. He doesn't believe
he needs to be baptized again right now but he's willing to read and
keep commitments. At the end of the lesson we had him download the
Gospel Library app on his phone so he could read the Book of Mormon in
Swahili and he was super excited! We have a member from West Africa in
the Ward so we will probably bring him to the next lesson. Pray it
goes well.

Next up is Jerome. We were out tracting and we knocked on his house
right as he pulled up in his car, which actually happens all the time
and it's super awkward but you just embrace it. He got out of the car
and at first seemed pretty uninterested. However, once we introduced
ourselves as Mormon Missionaries and asked if he'd like to hear a
message he said something along the lines of "I'll tell you a story. I
was in Texas a few years back and my car broke down, a Mormon guy
stopped and took me to an auto shop to get the parts then brought me
back to my car. He wouldn't accept a dime for it either, so I'll
listen to any religion a man like that associates with". It was
awesome!! So we were able to teach him a little bit of the Restoration
and we are coming back tonight to teach him more.

Those are the only people who have real potential right now the rest
are kind of iffy. In other news Cheyla is doing incredible as always,
she is in 3 Nephi right now and is in love with the Book of Mormon.
Last time we met with her she told us she was sad that it was almost
over, we assured her that it was just as good of a read the second
time around though. It's been super cool to see how much she has
progressed since we started meeting with her in April.ww

This weekend there was A TON of rain and we got caught tracting in a
super bad storm, I got soaked. So, we took advantage of the fact that
I was already completely wet and took some funny videos during dinner
which I will include. It was probably one of the most entertaining
days of my mission so far.

I'm loving my time here as a missionary and while tracting for 7+
hours a day may not seem like a fun job, I can assure you that the
people you meet make it more than worth it. And don't worry we don't
tract that long every day....just most of them. Our investigator pool
is starting to fill up though so we should be able to cut down on the
finding activities and devote more time to teaching.

I love you guys and I hope everyone had a killer Fathers Day!!

Me Again!

Hey! Its me again haha, I know you guys just heard from me like 4 days

ago but its P-Day again somehow. This week was pretty good, we had

Stake Conference over the weekend and two members of the 70 came since

the Stake Presidency was being reorganized, so that was cool.

The two members of the 70 were Elder Clay and Elder Curtis, they were

both super awesome. One thing that Elder Clay talked about was taking

our questions and putting them in a box. We shouldn't forget about the

questions once we put them in the box, but we shouldn't let them

become our main focus. Over time we will be able to answer our

questions, and they won't distract us from the blessings the gospel

brings. Elder Clay said one of his questions as a convert to the

church was who he should be sealed to since his parents divorced when

he was in the first grade and both of them remarried happily.

We are still working hard on passing out 100 copies of the Book of

Mormon, we aren't even close but we're not giving up yet.  We went

tracting for a solid 4 hours yesterday after church and we weren't

able to teach a single lesson which was a bummer, but we did have a

cool experience. So we are out knocking doors and I swear it is SO

HOT! By hour 2 we were dripping with sweat, the whole back of my shirt

was soaked haha. So finally I looked at Elder Tanner and said "thats

it, I'm saying a prayer to get us some water". So I said a prayer that

someone would let us in a give us water and not even 3 houses later

this guy opens up and says "Hey! Come on in, its hot outside, want

some water?". #MIRACLE I was so happy haha. I drank at least a gallon

of water and we talked with him for a bit. He needed up being pretty

cool but he wasn't interested, he gave us his number when we left and

said "if you call me and want to talk religion I'll hang up on you,

but if you ever need any help or a place to rest let me know".

Most of the new Investigators we found last week haven't really panned

out but we are working with this Grandma and her Granddaughter. They

seem promising but we've had to reschedule a couple times so we will

see. I'll keep y'all updated on their progress!

Transfer calls are this Saturday so if you plan on sending anything

hold off until next week and I'll let y'all know if I'm staying. I'm

loving it here so I hope I stay but I'll go wherever the Lord needs

me!! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week!!

Not France...

Well I'm not in France but Staunton is still pretty sweet. I'm
honestly in love with this place, we went out into the boonies a lot this week and saw some pretty cool stuff.

So last week I talked about dropping our only investigator besides Cheyla which was pretty hard. We had decided that we'd show our faith in dropping him, know that God would provide us with new people to teach. The day after we dropped Jordan the Zone Leaders came to blitz our area and Elder Beazer and I found 4 new Investigators in 3 hours!!
So we have definitely been blessed with new people to teach.

Speaking of Cheyla, she is doing amazing!! She's in the Book of Helaman right now and is loving it. Our last lesson she told us she finished the book of Alma and said "this would make a kick butt movie". She didn't use that nice of language but we're working on it haha.

This month President Smith has challenged each companionship to pass out 100 copies of the Book of Mormon. We have to share a 4-10 minute restoration with them though and we have to make sure they have real intent. So far Elder Tanner and I are at 9.... and the Waynesboro sisters are at 35, soooo we're a little behind. When we asked the sisters what their secret was they just told us it was because they were girls haha.

President Smith has also told us that as we study the Book of Mormon this month we will gain a new appreciation for it and a stronger testimony. I can definitely say that I'm already gaining a new appreciation and understanding of the Book of Mormon as I've been studying. We meet so many people who think that the Book of Mormon contradicts the Bible but it doesn't! Everything the Book of Mormon says goes right along with the Bible so well, I honestly can't understand why people can't see it haha.

Okay I know I talk about how beautiful Staunton is all the time but it's honestly so cool here. Everyone has to go google pictures of the Shenandoah Valley, even though pictures don't do it justice.

I hope everyone has a super awesome week, P-Day will be on Monday again next week so you'll be hearing from me again in no time. Love you all!!!