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| The Bishop's wife sent this picture of Braden with his companion, Elder Henderson. The 12th ward loves and appreciates all that Braden is doing in that area. |
So this coming week is the last full week of the transfer. All the assignments will be made and stuff will start changing. But that is all for now and I'll let you know all about it next week.
This week was very nice. Tuesday we met with two less active families, one in each of our wards. The couple in Park Lake ward are awesome, because they have such strong testimonies but for whatever reason don't come to church. We were told that the wife didn't really have a testimony and that we would kinda have to build her up, but that wasn't true at all!! Now we are trying to get the ward involved by inviting them to activities and church. The couple in the 12th ward are our oldest consistent less active family. Also, the wife is a recent convert. So we started teaching them about the plan of salvation and at the end she said three things that made me so excited! First, she really wants her patriarchal blessing. Second, she really wants to get started with family history work. And Third, she REALLY wants to go through the temple once her first year is done. I was SO happy to hear her say these things. They are all the right steps to take and I hope that we can help her make them.
Wednesday was our Zone Conference and our mission president gave us very interesting counsel. The thing that stood out the most was about agency. We always think of agency as our ability to choose whatever we want. In reality, if we use our agency righteously we sort of give our agency to God and do whatever he asks. One of the examples he gave was a mission. Since we agreed to serve, we gave all our agency back to Him. We have no choice but to obey his commandments and do exactly as he wants done. I hope that makes sense. He really taught it well and I went away with a greater understanding of what agency actually is.
Thursday was nothing really special, just the usual stuff. But Friday, oh Friday, was the most glorious day of the mission so far. Allow me to explain. So my very first day here we had a referral for a family in Coalhurst. So we stopped by and they seemed really confused as to who we were, what we were doing there, and why we thought they would want to talk to us. Apparently, the member that referred them didn't prep them. So a couple weeks go by and we get word that they are ready to listen to us. So once again we dropped by. The husband seemed less confused but still kind of unsure. Plus the wife was sick and so they couldn't talk to us then. That brings us to Friday. Sadly, it was exchanges day so I was in a different area and so it was only my companion and another Elder that did all this, but it still counts for me. So, Elders Henderson and Smith stop by for the third time. The wife lets them in and starts talking to them. The Husband is in the other room trying to take care of one of their 5 kids. She apparently has a lot of "golden questions" that missionaries can answer. The primary one being, "If all Christian churches use the Bible, why are they often times different?" The same question Joseph Smith had!!!! Plus, she really values good moral standards and likes the church's stance on the family. Also, she wants to learn about our church specifically!!! So we have a return appointment for this coming Sunday when we will start the lessons!!! MY FIRST INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!! The only sad part is that our area is splitting and it is very likely that we will stay in the 12th ward, so I'll only get to teach them once :( But its okay because the family has 2 kids that are baptism age so whoever takes over Park Lake Ward will have 4 investigators and it all started with Elder Henderson, Elder Smith and I.
That all makes Saturday really dull. We mainly prepared for the splitting of the area by getting the Area books all organized and ready. Then I got sick. It was really weird, like I had a slight fever, then that went away but my throat started hurting, then that went away, and the whole time I just felt weak and achey. But who knows. I'm all better now. Then on Sundaywe got to do something totally awesome. I got to teach Primary again!!!! The teacher for the 8 year olds couldn't make it and so they asked us to sub for them. It was super fun and, as usual, I love being in Primary. We taught them about Samuel the Lamanite and the importance of prophets. After church we studied some more and then went to dinner at the Bishop's house. After that we went to a member in the ward to teach them. He sometimes has to work on Sundays and he really wants to have some sort of spirituality on the Sundays he works. So he requested that we come by and share a message. We had a very nice conversation type lesson on prayer. We all taught each other and I learned a lot. He really appreciated that and wants us to come by next week.
And that was my week in a nutshell. Eventually, I'm going to do something really cool, so look out for that coming up, at some point, during the next two years. That's all I'm going to say on the subject, so you'll just have to keep checking in so you don't miss it.
Oh, by the way, Thank you so much Jamie and family for bringing my package to me. I really am grateful for it. And Thank you Danielle Moran for your letter, it was awesome!!! If you are reading this, congrats on your choice to serve and let Tanner know I'm super excited for him.
Lastly, let me quickly share a miracle from the past week. Two P-days ago my mom requested my address so my sister's friend could deliver a package. After getting home, I realized I gave the wrong address! I was frantic, it's not like I could call or go email again with the correction. So I turned to the Lord and prayed for a miracle. I prayed that some how, some way I would get that package. On Sunday, I got a phone call and it was Jamie, asking where we lived and I got the package. At the time I didn't realize how much of a miracle it really was. You see, my mom texted Jamie's mom the address that I gave. They were planning on just dropping it on my doorstep (which would have been a stranger's door). When she was looking for the address, it wasn't in her phone (and according to Jamie, her mom NEVER deletes texts) so they didn't know how to get in contact with me. So at church last Sunday, Jamie's aunt (who is in my stake) just happened to come to their ward. She gave them my phone number and they called and dropped off the package. I now realize that this was a bigger miracle that I had originally thought. The Lord truly does answer all of our prayers. I know it for a fact that if we ask him, he will answer us. Go to him, pray to Him. there is nothing that he doesn't care about. Even if it is kind of selfish or petty or silly, like getting a package, he cares and will help us.
On that note, Thank you for all the prayers and support,
I love you all,
Love,
Elder Wake
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