September 1, 2014 - Labor Day

Hey there family, 

So this week has been a good one. Sister Petersen and I have been working really hard to prepare things for Brandon's baptism, and so far so good! Yesterday we had a bit of a scare though, Brandon was in Arkansas going to church and he parked his truck in the grass/cement at an elementary school right next door to the church and after church when he came out to leave his truck got stuck and sunk down into the mud and broke part of the cement. So we were all worried that this was going to delay his trip and work schedule and that he wasn't going to be able to make it back on time for his baptism but he was able to get someone to tow him out thank goodness! He also had a really great time at church, a few days ago I called the Branch President there to let them know that Brandon was going to be at church and he said that they would look for him and also let the missionaries know. The missionaries really helped him to have a positive experience at church and in the gospel principles class they were talking about the Word of Wisdom and Brandon said that he was able to share a bit about his past and how much his life has changed since he has been living it. This helped the elders out because they had an investigator there that struggled with smoking and Brandon was able to talk to him and about how he was able to quit and some tips, it was really nice of him. Then after church that same investigator was saying how he always wanted to drive in a big truck and so Brandon gave him a ride in his and then of course when they got back is when he got stuck. But Brandon was really positive about it and the elders ended up staying out there with him for a few hours waiting for the tow man to come. Brandon really enjoyed them which is good. He told us that the elders said the were jealous that we got to use Facebook and iPads haha but maybe one day they will too. Mike was also supposed to come to church yesterday but he didn't end up coming, it was a bummer and he kind of keeps flaking on us so we might end up dropping him soon which is sad because he is so cool. But we will see how things go this week. we also got dumped as I would call it by two of our other investigators, Kelly and Daniel. That was a bummer but I guess they just weren't ready. But that's ok I know that the Lord has more prepared people ready for us! We are going to start teaching a family this week, the Nelsons.  Joanna Nelson the mother is an excommunicated member of the church and the rest of her family are not members. But her father is an active member in the ward and he suggested that we go and visit her and so we have been trying to stop by this past 4 weeks or so with next to no luck. We had met them once before like 3 weeks  ago but wasn't able to set anything up with them because they were sick and then after that we just could never get a hold of them. Then about 2 weeks after that we went over and Joanna was home and sick with something else and so we couldn't go inside, but she was telling us about how stressed she was and that things are really hard right now but that she really wants to get back into church. We were able to share Mosiah 2:41 with her and talk about how King Benjamin asks his people to consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandants of God and how they are blessed both temporally and spiritually, we then promised her that as she makes the efforts to keep the commandants and come closer to God that she will see the blessings in her life.  She asked if she could keep the Book of Mormon we were reading out of and if we could mark that scripture for her so that she could share it with her husband. We then had no luck for about another week contacting them until last night we went over and they were home and really not in a good state of things, they hadn't eaten in days and were just really struggling with all sorts of problems. but Joanna was excited to show us that she has a ecig now and that it has been helping bot her and her husband lower their raving for smoking. They also were telling us that they are not going to give excuses anymore but that they really want to change their life and come closer to God and strengthen their faith which is really wavering right now. So we set an appointment for Tuesday, so hopefully that goes through. We were also able to contact this awesome less active family that moved into the ward, the Conkrights. They really liked us and said we could come over anytime. The children seem like they could become active again no problem, but Sister Conkright is the one who is struggling with it right now, its because she smokes though and she doesn't want to be judged at church. She does have the desire to come back though. I think it will be fairly easy to help them back into activity which is good. We will also go and visit Genette this week. I can't remember if I told you about her, but she is a sweet lady, we have only taught her the restoration so far and she really felt the spirit as we were there. So I think things could work out good with her. She also struggles in every way possible as most people out here do. She really is just looking for peace and the hand of the Lord in her life. She will find that as she keeps the commandments and comes closer to the Savior. That is pretty much all the news for this week. I was reading through the email I sent you last week and I realized that I make tons of grammar errors and that half of my sentences don't make sense. Sorry about that, I am typing so fast to get it all down for you that I don't have time to fix it haha oh well. Talk to you next week! Love you! 

 I miss Utah picture

Sister Jamison, the spider killer

Where missionaries eat :)