Things that are new and noteworthy

We weren’t able to teach Julian this week and are pushing his baptism back… again. Hopefully we can get everyone on board this ship and get some stuff figured out.

Saturday was designated in our mission as a “finding day”, a day to focus all of our efforts on contacting and tracting and doing other things to find new investigators. However, since we don’t really have any investigators and no appointments during the day, it wasn’t very different for Elder Thomas and I. However, during some tracting, we did have a neat experience. We knocked on a door and the man who answered immediately invited us in. He was very nice and offered us water and some food. We made small talk for a while and were eventually able to place a Book of Mormon with him. His name was John and he seemed fairly interested so we will definitely be following up on him.

Last night, we had a missionary fireside at the church that went really well. Bart Oats, former NFL player and three-time Super Bowl champion, came and spoke. It was really interesting. There were quite a few non-members there and we were able to talk to lots of people about the Church and give away a few Books of Mormon. Unfortunately, I think everyone we talked to came from outside our mission boundaries but we were still able to plant a lot of seeds.

That is all for this week and if there is anything else, I can’t think of it. I hope you all are doing well. Thanks for everything! Much love!!

Same Old

This past week has been pretty much the same as all the other ones before. We did some tracting and less-active stop-bys. Daylight savings is going to screw some things up not that it is getting dark at 4 PM. People don’t tent to answer the door when it is “night time”. Also, we had an ice storm this morning so winter is coming and I’m not excited about it.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference which was good. It is always nice to have a spiritual boost like that. However, we arrived about an hour late because we went to the wrong church. Apparently they sent out a text message telling us to go to a different church but we never got it so we spent the morning driving around western Connecticut.

We taught Julian again this week but had to move his baptism back to the 20^th because the family wasn’t ready for this weekend and they have guests coming to town next weekend. It wasn’t the best news, but we will be able to teach him more and make sure he is completely ready to be baptized.

Yesterday, Sister Gonzalez and Sarah came to church. Sarah said she liked it but it was “different” and her mom thinks she was a bit shell-shocked. Hopefully they’ll keep coming and we can teach Sarah soon.

That is the gist of what has happened to me the past seven days. Please keep us and all other missionaries in your prayers! I love you all and hope it is a good week for you! Talk to you soon!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween! Was yours as good as mine? I highly doubt it because you probably didn’t win the award for BEST DECORATED VEHICLE at the Trumbull 1^st Ward Trunk-or-Treat. That’s right. Our Books of Mormon and Joseph Smith pamphlets really pulled in the votes and our stacks of pass-along cards definitely sealed the deal. We won a shiny orange certificate and a mummy doll. My joy was most definitely full. For actual Halloween, we weren’t allowed to proselyte after 6 PM so after an awesome dinner appointment with purple mashed potatoes and blue apple cider served in chemistry beakers, we went back to the church and just hung out with our district for the rest of the night.

This next part may not make sense. It is a complex story, so bear with me as I try to explain. We got a call this week from a woman who is not a member of the church but has a friend from California who is. The friend is named Sylvia and she only speaks French. She is in Connecticut right now and somehow she got a hold of our number for her friend to call us and try to get her a ride to the church. MEANWHILE, we saw Guy (our investigator that we thought had moved) at the post office. He told us his sister was staying with them, that she was a member, and that she needed a ride to church. Do you see where this is going? Sylvia is Guy’s sister. They aren’t moving until the end of the month and yesterday Sylvia and Linda (Guy’s teenage daughter) came to church. It was really neat and I think we will start teaching Linda soon and then turn the family over to the other missionaries once they move. Please pray for that situation to work out and that there will be someone who can translate for the missionaries when they move!

Last week we went to meet an inactive family in the ward, the Gonzalez’s, and sat and talked to them for a while. The parents are both converts but they attend another church. A couple days later, we got a call from a lady in our ward who is Sister Gonzalez’s visiting teacher. She told us that Sister Gonzalez wanted us to teach the lessons to their 12 year old daughter, Sarah, who hasn’t been baptized and they want her to be able to make a choice of what church she wants to attend. I guess she went to a fireside last week and loved it so that is good news for us! Please pray that we will be able to meet with her and that her heart will be soft!

Well that is all I have for this week. Julian’s baptism is coming up on Saturday if we can teach him what he still needs to know and if he passes his interview! Thanks for all the support you’re sending my way! I love you all!

5 Months Out

So, tomorrow is my five month mark. Time has passed so fast and I feel like not that much has happened. Every week I say that there is “nothing new”. Sadly, for the most part, the same goes for this week but I’ll give the rundown anyway.

On Wednesday, we went to Young Women in Excellence in hopes of talking to Emily’s parents. We were able to shoot the breeze with her dad for about ten minutes and it went really well. I think they are starting to warm up to the idea of Emily getting baptized so please continue to pray for them.

Thursday night, we went to the English’s for dinner, one of my favorite families in the ward and helped them put a desk together. They are feeding us on Thanksgiving and I’m way excited for it. Sister English’s family is Greek and Orthodox Catholic so there is lots of drama promised.

Friday night, we taught Julian about Repentance and Baptism and finalized a baptismal date for November 6 so hopefully we’ll get him sufficiently prepared by then.

That is all that has happened this week. I hope you are all doing well! Have a good week.

What to Say

It was, once again, a very slow week. We weren't able to teach Julian because his family all came down with a cold and for us, that meant lots of finding activities.

On Saturday, we got the call notifying us of transfers and found out that Elder Thomas and I will be staying in Trumbull. I was excited about that! On Sunday, Elder Thomas had to speak in church and gave a really good talk on the "Faith of our Fathers". He told his grandma's conversion story and it was really good.

Please pray that soon we will have people to teach! We have one potential that works with some members. Her name is Christine and in the past year, she had breast cancer, a double mastectomy, and her husband left her. Some members in the ward are working with her so hopefully she'll be ready to meet with us soon!

That's all for this week. I love you guys! Thanks for everything!

Someone in Connecticut is Getting Baptized Soon

That’s right. Who, you might ask. I’ll give you some hints: This person is a boy. He is nine years old. Do you know who it is yet? His name is Julian.

This week, we taught him a great lesson on faith and the importance of relying on Jesus Christ. He was able to understand and relate the reading assignment we left him from the Book of Mormon. It was a great lesson and we were able to teach at his level to help him understand. At the end, we committed him to be baptized on the 30^th of this month. However, that date is probably going to be changed because the primary in our ward is doing a trunk or treat that day. It is so exciting to see someone progress toward baptism. I’ve already seen Julian’s understanding grow and know that he will continue to learn more.

Other than Julian, we are in a drought. Things with Emily are the same as they have always been and other than her we have NO other investigators. We have tried not to tract this week which has forced us to be a little more creative with our finding, but no more successful. We have gone by lots of former investigators and old potential investigators but no one is interested.

Last week for P-day, we took the train up to New Haven and went to Yale with our district. It wasn’t bad but it isn’t something I’m dying to do again. First of all, when we got there, nobody had a plan or knew what we were doing so we just walked in a gigantic circle. I don’t think I have ever had to use a bathroom so badly in my life as I did then. We went into a Dunkin Donuts with a sign that said, “Bathroom for customers only” and the door locked. I asked the clerk, “Can I please use the bathroom? I PROMISE I’ll buy something”. Then she told me it was out of order. Then we went to Sub Way. They had a sign on their bathroom too but theirs said, “Out of order”. We made our way over to the bookstore and the clerk there told me that they didn’t have a bathroom but there was one next door at Educated Burger. I made my way over there and climbed the stairs to their bathroom. I stepped inside and it was literally smaller than airplane bathrooms, and dirtier. But at this point I had to remind myself that beggars can’t be choosers and thus ended my bathroom pilgrimage.

We went to the bookstore and I had hopes of getting a few souvenirs. However, a children’s hoodie was 50 bucks. No. Thank you. So, even though it was hard, I walked away purchase-free. Then we went to a pizza joint for a late lunch and jumped the train back home.

That’s all that is new with me. I love all of you and thank you for your support. Let me know how you are!

The Work Moves On

What an amazing week this has been! Our key-indicators (numbers we keep track of and report like lessons taught and Books of Mormon given away) have been a record low; all zero’s except the three lessons we taught this week. However, we have worked so hard and enjoyed the Spirit very much this week.

General Conference was amazing! There has been no experience thus far in my mission that has come with such a spiritual high. The announcement of the temple in Hartford brought indescribable feelings of elation. There were only a few people in the chaple with us watching when the announcement was made, but the joy and tears and Spirit there was electric.

Prior to Conference, I wanted to understand my purpose more. As I mentioned earlier, our numbers had been slipping and our pool of investigators has dropped to two people (Emily and Julian). I started to experience discouragement, telling myself that any baboon could stand in my shoes and accomplish the same thing. However, my prayers for a greater understanding and resolve were answered in the priesthood session. Elder Nelson was the opening speaker. He stepped to the pulpit and asked all full-time missionaries to stand, wherever in the world they may be. I stood and he took a moment to offer praise and thanks for the valiant men serving missions. It mad me realize that I am not in this alone; that I am one member of a massive army, moving the word of God forth. It was a great feeling. I’m getting emotional all over again just thinking about it.

Between sessions yesterday, we went to lunch at a Spanish members house with the Spanish Elders and had TOSTADAS!! Before yesterday, I didn’t even know what those were but it brought a smile to my face as I thought of my surrogate brother being chased around by the girl screaming, “Eli, want a tostada?”

This week, as you could probably tell by the numbers, was full of tracting and trying to find people to teach. We still have a few potentials and people we need to follow up with so please pray that Elder Thomas and I can start teaching some of these people.

Today, we are taking the train up to New Haven and going to Yale (Not Harvard…). It should be a neat experience and I’ll let you know how it turns out. Maybe I’ll love it so much that I’ll decide to go there. You never know. Haha.

I hope you are all doing well. Remember how much I love each of you and think about you all. Have a great week!