How are you doing?
It's been an awesome
week, let me tell you what's been going on! So, my first week here was
really dry. We worked and worked and worked, but we didn't have any new
investigators. This past week we got three referrals though, and now we
have three new investigators!
The first one is from a part member
family. They just moved in, and were referred to us by the Sister
missionaries from their previous ward. We talked to the husband who's not
a member, and he said that we could come by and teach him. He's still a
ways from making up his mind in either direction, but he says that he can't
possibly learn enough about the religion that his daughters will be raised in.
The second is kind of an unofficial
investigator. She's also from a part member family. Her husband is
in the Navy and he's studying here at the UofA to become an officer. He's
shooting to become a pilot, so I picked his brain about that! His wife
isn't a member, but she said it would be ok if we came by to share some more
with her. They're a super cool family!
Our third investigator is super cool.
He's a young man, I think he's 17. The missionaries met him when he came
to an after school devotional at the seminary building. We've been trying
to contact him for quite a while, but we were never able to catch him. We
went to try again several days ago, and as we walked up to his house his Mom
came out onto the porch. She said "You're the boys that "D's"
been talking too! Come on in!"
She then brought us in, gave us
some cookies that she made, and called "D" in. Then she started
talking to us too. At one point, she said "Okay, I know just what
you're Mom's are thinking right now, so I'm going to tell you." She
gave us a talk about being safe, not being too trusting of people, being aware
of our surroundings, basically just telling us to be smart and safe. She
was so nice! It was kind of weird at first because we rarely have
non-members be that nice to us, even a lot of the members aren't that
nice. She was super nice, there is no way to overstate that. She
asked us why we decided to serve missions, gave her thoughts and comments on
our decision (which were all super positive, by the way). After that, we
talked with "D".
He's already read the Book of Mormon all the way
through the end of 2nd Nephi, it was awesome! He went to Stake Conference
with some of the members here, and he said "he (the Stake President) was
saying a lot of the same things I say, I just didn't know that other people
said them." We told him a little about what the Book of Mormon is,
and that was that. When we were talking to "D", his Mom just invited
us over to Thanksgiving dinner with them too!
We didn't even say anything
about a return appointment, she just brought it up! I didn't know a visit
could even go this well! We taught him the restoration on Friday at the
home of a member who's son he's friends with, and he said that he'd be baptized
if he prays about the Book of Mormon and learns for himself that it is
true. Super cool!
Now, you were asking me to tell you about the
first door I knocked and how I'm interacting with my companion and with the
ward. First, the door. We actually don't do much tracting.
When we want to find people, we usually do it on the way to an
appointment. We'll park at the edge of the neighborhood and walk in,
talking to everyone that we pass by. Elder C. said that he's found
that people are way more receptive when they're out walking then they are when
they're in their homes. We've set a goal to contact 28 people each week,
which is actually pretty tough here because people keep to themselves so
much. We've been doing a good job with it though, and it's paying
off! Referrals are so much more productive though. We probably
talked to 25 or 30 people last week, and not one lesson came from it.
Then we got three referrals, and now we have three new investigators! We
do knock doors, but that's usually when we're trying to contact less
actives. Generally they're pretty nice.
My companion and I are getting a long really
well. We both work hard, and he's such a good example of diligent
missionary work. I also speak to him in Portuguese, and he speaks back in
Spanish so I can still practice Portuguese a bit! He likes pulling little
pranks too. For example, while I was sleeping once he tied a rope around
my ankle and tugged on it until I woke up. He'd set up his camera before,
and now he watches the video every morning! I had a pretty confused look
on my face when I woke up, it was pretty funny!
The ward is great too, I don't think I've ever
seen a more missionary minded ward. Everyone invites friends to
activities, and missionary work really is the focus of the ward
leadership. In ward council on Sunday they spent the first 20 or 25
minutes talking about ward activities and other such business, and then the
remaining hour or so was dedicated to missionary work: investigators, less
actives, helping people progress to ordinances, and so on. It was so neat
to see how the ward pulled together, they're an incredible example of the
members being equally yoked with the missionaries in the work.
That's what's been going on this week! A
lot more happened this week then last, hence the novel. Trevor and Amy's
stay sounded super fun, I'm so happy that you were able to get together.
Keep me up to date with what's going on in your lives! Have an awesome
Thanksgiving too.
I love you all!
Elder Sweet
P.S. The first dear elder that you sent got in 2 days
ago. The packages all got here several days ago, so those must be
delivered faster for some reason. Getting a letter in the middle of the
week is such a treat, so keep 'em coming! It's also fun to sit down on
P-day and read E-mails too, so feel free to use either medium. I love
you!
Its getting so much easier! At the beginning of my
mission I was a little afraid to talk to people, but now the fear is almost
gone. There's still a little, but its wearing off pretty quick. 
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