and more...

12/5/11

Dear Famiree,

We had another really good lesson with the two friends we’re teaching this last week. They had not read from the Book of Mormon since our last visit so we read Alma 32 with them. We are trying to help them develop the faith to make changes in their lives that will bring them in closer harmony with the Savior and His teachings. They are so humble that it is almost difficult at times for them to understand the implications of our message. We are hoping that as we teach by the Spirit in their home they will also learn by the Spirit.

We had a great lesson with another lady. She is the niece of an in-active member and lives next door to him. We tracted into her as well as the in-active member. During our return appointment with her, her cousin came in. She is the daughter of the in-active member and has spoken with him a great deal about the Church and has even read from the Book of Mormon. They were both very receptive and accepted the invitation to read from the Book of Mormon and to pray to come to know that it is true. Unfortunately, the first sister had to cancel our next appointment so she could take her kids to a doctor's appointment she had forgotten about.

We taught P again this week. He had read the reading assignment we left him in Alma 32 as well as the Restoration pamphlet. He had several concerns which we were able to help him resolve. During the lesson he told us that he had already committed to God that he was going to attend Church with us. He said he will be there this Sunday. We left him another reading assignment in the Book of Mormon and look forward to meeting with him again.

We had a cool experience on Thursday while we were tracting. As we were walking up the hill, a car pulled up next to us and the window rolled down. A gentleman told us that he was a member of the Church but had not been in years. He said that it was a relief to see us as he had been praying for the opportunity to change his life. He has recently had some experiences that have made him think about the path he was on and he has desired to get back on the strait and narrow. He cleaned himself up physically and left some of his less-than-obedient habits behind in an effort to do so, but was unsure how to continue. We had a very powerful lesson with him focused on the Restoration and Joseph's search for truth and guidance from God. He said that he would come back to Church. Unfortunately, he did not come yesterday. We are unsure why he did not make but hope that he will have the faith to come next week.

Last Sunday, one of the recently returned-missionaries in the ward brought a friend of his to Church. She had a good experience and accepted the invitation to take the missionary lessons. We taught her the Restoration last night at the Church building and then watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional with her and the RM. It went very well.

We are still having a very difficult time with our investigators not attending sacrament meeting. We are focusing on helping them develop the faith to act in a manner that will show their commitment to live the Gospel by attending Church. Hopefully we will see some results soon!

Everything is going pretty good here! The weather is as crazy as ever. We had sleet sticking to our jackets four days ago and today it's 65 degrees!

Love youns!

Elder Elder Raymond