Week 17

Howdy y'all! As I head into the last week of this transfer, I can't help but think it just started!!! The time is going so much faster than I ever would have expected, and the next thing I know, I'm gonna be heading home! I have enjoyed every minute of it though and hope it won't go by too fast.

Elder Hatfield and I are still doing really good. We've been getting along better and have really seen an increase in everything compared to the beginning of this transfer over the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we'll be able to stay together another transfer. He's really grown on me.

This week was J.J. and Hayden's baptism!! It was so amazing too. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room by the end of it. It was really spiritual and everyone there knew that the boys made the right decision. We were so happy for them and the family, and it's once again incredible to see how the Gospel changes lives. The family went from rarely going to church to attending on a regular basis. It was so cool.

This week was a really great week. We saw many of our investigators and a lot of them are progressing. We saw David and Sue this week, and while the lessons went good, it might take Sue some time. She wants to read the whole Book of Mormon before she learns more, but she was fairly open about what we taught her and if she prays with faith and sincerity, she'll get her answer. David said he wanted to keep moving forward, though, so we'll see him tomorrow.

Mendi is still doing good. She is set to be baptized on November 7th and we will start planning her program soon. We are really excited for her.

Friday was a really good day. We went on exchanges with Elder Holt and Elder Pett again, and Elder Pett came to my area. We were planning on lots of tracting in the afternoon, but a woman named Sister Rea called us and said that she and her husband, Jack (who is not a member), wanted to meet with us. They had already talked to us previously, but we hadn't set up a time. We agreed to meet with them that day at the church, and their son and his fiancée were also there. Jack is older (in his 80's) and has had a couple strokes recently. He's thought a lot about it and has decided that he wants to get baptized. Jeff (his son) was born and raised in the church but fell away and has found his way back. He is trying to prepare himself so he can baptize his father. His fiancée Kristina has also expressed a desire to learn more and be baptized, so we will be teaching them all together. We had a really good discussion with them on Saturday and we will see them again tomorrow night.

Later that same day we met with Kenneth and taught him the first half of the Plan of Salvation. He enjoyed it and has always wondered why we're here and those kinds of things. We're happy to be able to tell him and teach him. He still hasn't told his parents that he wants to be baptized and I don't think he's even told them we're meeting with him because he's scared they won't let him meet with us or baptize him, but hopefully he will be able to tell them and they will understand and let him choose. We are praying for him.

The next day (Saturday) we had the baptism (which I mentioned earlier went really well) and later that evening we met with a man named James Hays. He was born in the church but didn't really like it and left when he was 18. Recently, he has come into monetary issues and has turned to the church hoping for support. This has caused him to come back to church with his two kids, a girl and a boy, who are 10 and 5. We met with them and Athena (the ten-year-old girl) told us she really liked church. We asked them if they would like us to come over and teach them, and they said they would. It's been crazy how the Lord has been blessing us with new investigators and people to teach.

To finish off the week, a girl named Brianna in the Little Elm Ward came up to us at the end of Sacrament meeting and introduced us to her friend, who had been coming to church for a couple of weeks and was interested in taking the lessons. We are hopefully going to see her on Sunday at Brianna's house and begin teaching her. We have not been able to thank the Lord enough for the blessings he has been giving us. There are so many things going on here that are waiting to happen. I'm excited to see how it all turns out.

Well that's all from me! I hope everything else is going good for y'all!!

Love,
Elder Grondel