Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Mom,

We have had a great week this week, and we are starting to get so busy. We had a great time Thanksgiving. We ate with the Jackman family in our ward, which was just like Thanksgiving back home. We then went back to work, tracting most of the day. It was hard at first, but holidays really are a great time to work. So, we did. I also did receive the package you sent, but not the tree yet, so hopefully it will come today when we are in the apartment. We also already had a tree in the apartment, so now we will have two. Or maybe give the old one away to one of the other missionaries. We also have transfers coming this next week, so I decided to wait and see if I am transferred. I really hope not!

 

I am glad that you had a lot of contact this week. Sister Larsen approached me after the baptism and out of the blue said, "What is your mom's address?" I thought it was a weird question, but then she told me why, and I thought it was a great idea. I knew you would love it! Then at dinner on Friday, they thought of sending you pictures of us eating, and I knew you would love that too. I am grateful for all you have done for me, and I hope I pay you back a little.

 

 I also must say that when I saw that Sister Larsen said that I taught with the spirit and power and authority, I was so happy. If you look at my mission scripture, it is about teaching as with the trump of angels, and that has been one of my goals as a missionary. To be Bold! I have always been a quiet person, but as a missionary sharing the gospel which I love so much, I know that I don't have to be quiet. I am actually really Bold with people, and I love talking to everyone. Our president has challenged us from now until September to contact 12 people a day. I have taken him up on that, and my companion and I have contacted more than that every day. We are being bold.

The investigators, are all starting to show a little interest. Like I said before, we had a great week this week, and because we are contacting so much, we are so busy. We found some investigators this week, who are so interested in our message. Now we just have to wait for them to start reading, and attending church. I am excited to see what the next couple of weeks will bring. I LOVE this area, and don't want to leave! Things are really starting to pick up.

 

We have had some great lessons this week! On Wednesday, we found a family from Mexico the Robles family, that had only been here about a year. They have really thick accents, and at times, it is really hard to understand them. The parents are in their upper 40s, and they have four children. They are struggling a bit with adjusting to a new way of life hear in America, but they are very interested in religion. We taught a great lesson that day, and came back to teach another lesson this Saturday. The second lesson was great! We taught with the spirit, and resolved almost all of their doubts. When we said the first vision, I felt the spirit as strong as I ever have in my mission. It was great, and I know they could feel it too. We also taught a lesson to Efraim. Efraim is a 40 year old man who has been taking lessons from the missionaries for about a year now. He has not progressed very much, but we had another opportunity to talk with him this week. We began asking inspired questions, and at one point I asked him, "Why do you keep inviting us over?" He then responded, "I love how I feel when you come." Because of this answer, we were able to commit him to come to church, and to read from the Book of Mormon everyday. And, he came to church yesterday. I am so excited to see him progressing now! I hope he will continue.

 

I also had another great experience last night. It was 7:00, and we were deciding whether or not to continue, or go home, because we hadn't studied all day. We decided to pray and ask for guidance. At the time neither of else felt like we had received and answer, but we decided that to knock would be the most effective use of our time. I then had a feeling that we should knock next to a street where we had lots of success. We went over to that area, and began knocking. The second door we knocked, was the home of James Walker who unfortunately, we can't keep teaching because he speaks English. This was one of the best lessons we taught. He had talked with missionaries about nine years ago, around the same time of year. Nine years ago, he was doing and selling drugs, and was really at the lowest point of his life. The missionaries had only taught him one lesson, but because he listened to them, he changed his whole life. He began going to church (not our church), and over time stopped doing all the bad stuff he had been doing. He was now happy and at peace, all because the missionaries had taught him one lesson, and left him a bible. So at the beginning of the lesson, I asked him to share his story with us. He did so, and the spirit was so strong, that I invited him to be baptized, before we had even explained the priesthood or anything. He said he already had been, so I said we will explain why we are asking again at the end of the lesson. At the end of the lesson we invited him again, and he said that if God gave him an answer to do so, then he would for sure. This experience was a great testimony builder to me for multiple reasons, one of which is that the spirit speaks so quietly, that at times you don't even know you are listening. We found this man, at one of the only times during the week that he is home because he is so busy. We didn't think we were following the spirit, but in the end, we were lead to where we needed to be. Great Experience!

 

I am so happy right now, and like I said before, I really don't want to leave this area! I love the members, and I love the investigators. The work is really picking up here, and it would be hard to leave all that we have accomplished here. I am excited to be teaching people this holiday season. I love sharing the gospel, and I don't know of any better way to spend this time of year, then by helping others come unto Christ. It will be a great time to find people, and get people interested in our message.

 

I love you, and missed having y'all around for Thanksgiving, but It wasn't too hard for me. I am glad to be doing what I am doing.

 

Love,

Kyle