THE BLESSINGS ARE ROLLING IN!!!

Elders Willoughby, Hardy, Hoskins and Draper

July 27, 2010

Well hello everyone,

Let me tell you, this week has been one of the busiest weeks so far in this area. It was so amazing and the Spirit was so strong as we worked hard and did our best. Our teaching pool has been kind of low and we have been trying to find new people to teach. This week we were truly blessed and we found six new investigators! Yeah, that’s right-- SIX!!! It was so amazing! They are all really interested and we have a lot more potentials that we are going to see this week. Three of the people that we found are part of the McKnight family. They are the people we had talked to last Monday. We had set up an appointment to visit then on Wednesday but then we found out that our interviews that day would be four hours long. We were all a little frustrated but decided to have a good attitude and a way would be provided. So we went back on Tuesday night to try and reschedule our appointment. I started talking to Will and he is like, “oh, I thought our appointment was tonight so I am glad that you guys came by”. We ended up having a great lesson with him and the Spirit was so strong. Then we set up another appointment and had a great lesson then as well. He and his brother are really progressing so we will see what happens in the next few weeks. I am really excited. After that first appointment I had one of the best moments on my mission. We hadn’t had that big successful moment for Elder Hoskin yet. As we were riding away I looked at him and he had this huge smile on his face. It was amazing. It was just great to see him feel the true spirit of missionary work.

Then we got a referral for another guy named Jason. We talked to him and he is all about family. We had a great lesson on the family and set up another time to come back and to teach him more. Did I tell you about the lady we tracted out on Sunday? Her name is Shayla. We went back this week and taught her a lesson. She said she would read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We asked her if she had heard about the Book of Mormon. She had heard that it is a book that goes right along with the Bible and that’s about it. We were like okay, that’s a good step. It is amazing to see the people that are prepared and ready to hear the Word. Then we had one of the people that we have been working with become an investigator. The work has just been so great in this area and it really boosts my spirits. Our other investigators are doing great as well. One of our younger investigators just quit smoking weed after two years. Our other investigators are really starting to progress as well.

Elder Hoskin and I are doing great. We are getting along great and he is making a lot of progress. He is going to be a great missionary. We are getting mini-missionaries this week as well. It is going to be a fun few days. Like I had said before, we had interviews this week as well. It took four hours for the training and interviews. It didn't seem like that long though. The Spirit was there and I really learned a lot. They are starting this new set of lessons for the missionaries to learn to help us become better teachers. As I watched part of the training I could see a lot of things that I did in missionary work that I could really improve on. One thing that Elder Hoskin and I are really working on as we are teaching the investigator is listening to the spirit. We don't always have to be speaking either. Sometimes silence is the time when the spirit speaks the loudest. As I have applied these things in my teaching I can already see the difference. The Spirit is stronger in our lessons and we are being more effective.

The weather is hot and humid up here but we keep going. I have never ridden a bike this much in my life. On Saturday we rode like twenty miles. It is worth it though to see the people who need to be taught. This work is all about the Spirit and as you rely on that you become more effective.

The last thing I want to say today is a quote that I heard this week. It is from President Gordon B. Hinckley. He was talking about how we need to stop looking for the storms and more fully enjoy the sunlight. To accentuate the positive. I loved that because it is so true. There are so many blessings in our everyday life and we often overlook them. Look around you and see the blessings that our Heavenly Father has in store for us. Sometimes we do have cloudy days (I know, I am in the northwest!). But as we look for the sunlight and the positive in everything, our lives will become brighter and more full of joy.

This week has been really good for me and it has helped Elder Hoskin and I keep our heads high and know that for all the hard times, there are so many more great times. The great times always outweigh the bad times.

I love you and hope you are doing great. Always keep your head up and replace fear with faith. It could be worse, it could be raining.

Love ya,

Elder Draper