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Oh man. It was a great week!

John and Kelly Morgan came to church again this week. We had a great lesson with them on Thursday. We took them on a church tour even though they have been to church many times now. The mission is focusing on the tours and there is a specific outline on how to do them. We took them from the foyer to the chapel to the font room (relief society room). And after showing them the font we set up some chairs and talked with them for awhile. It was a great tour. And the lesson that followed was perfect. As far as the Morgans go I guess. We actually set a baptismal date with them! Septermber 28th! It was so so good to be able to set that with them. It's a huge step for them to even set the goal. And it's almost 2 months away too! But they move really slowly. They can get there. It will give them a reason to find out it's true because their baptism is coming up! John needs motivation to find answers. Kelly needs the ability to recognize the answers that she is receiving. They both have made huge strides individually, as a couple and as a family. Really really excited for them.

We also saw Mike Foster this week. He's so close too he just has to get over anxieties that are holding him back. Mostly because he feels like it will be awkward when he goes to church. He doesn't feel like he knows what to do when he walks in the building. But he is committed to read the whole Book of Mormon and asks questions like "How can my family prepare to go to the temple?" and "Can I serve a mission with my wife?" He really really wants it all it's just hard to be a pioneer. No one in his family is LDS. Poor guy! It would make it so much easier. His wife (member) came to church again this week.

Our area got split. So Elder Hansen will be receiving Elder Hatch (lucky guy) and he will just serve in the Meadow Springs ward (lucky guy) and Elder Tays will serve in the Willowbrook ward with Elder Meyer. Pretty cool.

Well. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. So I'll just stop emailing now.

You probably wanted more feelings and emotion and all that stuff in this email... Sorry. Just ask me tomorrow :)

Love,

Elder Paxman

Looking for Investigators

This week was good. Like usual.

It was really tough as far as teaching people and getting into homes went. We only taught 12 lessons this week. No one seemed to want to let us in and we had tons of meetings.

We did get in with the Morgans though. They have kinda cooled off recently though. They have missed church 2 weeks in a row now. We met with them after church yesterday and they definitely felt bad about missing. Kelly was feeling overwhelmed with Sarah, her baby who wouldn't stop crying. So none of them came. Bummer. Despite slowing down with church they have been speeding up in their reading. They fulfill all the reading assignments we leave them and John even takes notes. He likes to write down what he feels are the main ideas of each chapter and then he usually writes down a few questions. The last question he had was on Alma 40:23 which talks about the resurrection "not a hair of the head shall be lost". He was confused because he didn't have an understanding of what the resurrection was. He thought it was a spiritual thing but we taught about the physical resurrection and it made more sense to him. Just one more thing that was lost in the Apostasy, the docrine of the physical resurrection.

 

Kelly has been looking at more anti material which is disheartening. She tells us she feels depressed after she reads it and we emphasize that those feelings are evidence enough that what she reads isn't of God. But she still allows her doubt to overtake her faith in many cases. Man they are so close. They just need to take a step of faith and commit to a date and things will start falling into place for them.

We need to find more new investigators. The area is probably going to be split next transfer so the missionaries who are here will have even more time on their hands. We need to find new investigators this week so that the split will go well. Elder Hansen needs stuff to do when I'm gone!

MLC was this week. It was a great meeting. I love learning new things. This week has just been a good faith building week all together. It's exciting to see where I can go because I know where I am and where I've been. That probably doesn't make very much sense. Another way of saying what I'm thinking is that God is good at answering questions effectively. And I know that he will keep doing that for me and anyone who really wants to know and puts in the effort. And that's whats exciting for me. I know that I will have more questions and that they will always be answered. Life is exciting.

We had a mini-missionary with us this week. He came in on Wednesday and he wasn't sure if he wanted to serve a mission. By the end of the day he was certain he was going to serve. By the end of Thursday he didn't want to leave. He was talking all day about how he wishes he could stay another day. And we had two bad days with him haha. We hardly got in any doors like I was saying earlier but he loved it! He's a good kid. We told him to write down his experience in a journal so he could remember it if he ever thought about not going again.

OH! We went to a baptism this week. And I looked at the program and saw the name Claire Schend as a speaker. I know her from Yakima and when I was there she was super Less-Active and would hardly show up to a baptism let alone speak at one. But she was there and she gave a great talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. I went up and talked to her afterwards. She is 30 years old now but is still attending the YSA ward in Yakima. I asked her how she got back to church and she said that she felt like it was church was pulling her back. She felt a great need to go and receive answers to her many questions. I asked her if she had the answers yet and of course she said no :) but she's trying so she will get them one day. God will reward her effort. It was way good to see her there. I will have to tell Elder Lyells that she is active again for the time being (and hopefully for good). He will be so happy to hear that. She made a great recovery. Oh, and the reason she was at the baptism is because it turns out that her niece was the one getting baptized. Yeah yeah yeah.

I'm out of ideas

Last week here I come

Love

Elder Paxman