Burnin the Tie!

So hello everyone

this week has been slow but good. even though we had a lot of appointments cancel we still had a busy week. i am really excited that even with that many meeting that fell through we were able to still teach 15 people. the work is really picking up in the oakhurst ward and it makes me so happy to see people learn and grow and come closer to our heavenly father. as i see others come closer to our heavenly father it strengthens my testimony that i am out here doing what i am supposed to be doing.

tues 4/6/10

we had a really good lesson with judith. we are making progress and we are getting to know her better and better. she is amazing and just is the nicest lady ever. we have been teaching a lot about prayer lately and that seems to be what a lot of our investigators are struggling with. i know that through prayer we can speak with our heavenly father and satan is trying to break that communication. prayer has been such a big part of my mission and i know he is there to listen and answers them all. no matter what happens we can always pray.

wed 4/7

i went on exchange with the zone leaders this day. it was fun to go out with elder olson and meet new people. this is the second time i have gone to their area so it was fun. i got to talk with the sorensons about mongolia and see what was going on. i guess they are not allowing any foreign missionaries in to mongolia right now and that it is just a political thing. i have faith it will clear up and one day foreign missionaries will be able to go back and teach the people.

thurs 4/8

nothing really happened on thurs. we had a few appointments cancel and we got to do a lot of service. i helped someone knock out a wall. i got to hit it with a sledge hammer. it was fun to be destructive. we are going to go back next week and help put up a new wall. then we helped our members build a chicken hutch. it looks pretty good. thanks dad for teaching me how to use power tools. it was a good day full of service but was slow as far as lessons go. one thing that i have learned is that service is a great form of missionary work. you may not be teaching gospel principles but you are gaining their trust and showing that you really do care about them. when you are in the service of your fellow beings, you are in the service of your god.

fri 4/9

it was a friday. we talked with a few people and it really brought something to my attention. there is a scripture in matthew that talks about how the pharisees just wanted to make their out side appearance look good. they turned near unto our heavenly father with their hearts and lips but not with their heart. i see so many people that talk the talk about church but won't get up and walk the walk. i have noticed that people use a lot of excuses. if that is how they want to live then that is their choice but when we get to the judgement bar i don't think he will except excuses. it is frustrating as a missionary because we want people to progress but they hold themselves back. it goes to a leap of faith. also what they really want in their heart. if a person hasn't come unto christ with their heart it is going to make it that much harder to get them baptized and to stay active. it is just one of those road blocks that is placed in our path. but god has given us sledgehammers. some are easy to break through and other are hard, either way we need to break through them.

sat 4/10

just another saturday. we did that same old stuff and taught a few lessons. i have been trying my whole mission to find something good that happens out of each day. something that i learned from that day. it was hard on saturday to pick something out but i did. i saw how when people come to church how much their lives are changed. there is a kid who we see who is a member. he was going to go on a mission but didn't. now he is less active and making some poor choices it is hard to see him do that, i know that church is necessary. when we go to church we are edified and we learn of christ. it gives us that boost we need to go through the week.

sunday 4/11

so this was the best day of the week. so today we finally got someone on date. his name is daylin and we set a date fro may 1st. i am so excited. i got to ask him if he would be baptized and HE SAID YES. i was so excited. this kid is so golden and i can't wait to see him take that next step. then we went to a baptism for this girl that donner and johnson have been working with. that is the first one i have been to. i forgot how short the prayer is. it is amazing how such a short action can mean so much in the eternity. it is amazing how our heavenly father has given us those things that we need to do to have eternal life. this was just a great day and i really enjoyed it. i can't really write how i feel about it because i am not really sure what words to use other than super duper excited.

mon 4/12

nothing happened on monday. we had 6 lessons cancel on us and it was just slow. we did play soccer with the rios family and had a great dinner lesson. i learned again today that when you have great days like we did sunday. the lord places those days in your path to humble you as well. haha. it proves to me that the work is hard sometimes but if we keep going to lord blesses us for our hard work.

it was a great week and i learn more and more each day. i am reading the new testament right now and i am already through matthew. i love the scriptures and i love being able to learn the words of christ. keep up the good work and know that i love you. stay safe and live without regrets.

love you,

elder draper