GREAT WEEK.

14 September 2010

Well hello there everyone,

A few really great things happened this week and we are doing fantastic. The big news for this week is that we were able to put two people on baptismal date. We put Will Green on date for the 9th of October. The funny part about his situation is that he had to take this class for his parole but because he didn't take it in time, he had a warrant out for his arrest. But he took the class on Saturday and turned himself in yesterday. I never thought I would say this but we have to go over to our investigator, who is on date, and find out if he is in jail or not. I have talked about Will in past emails. He is a great guy who is really trying to change his life around but keeps facing a lot of those stumbling blocks that Satan places in our paths. We decided that it would be good to give him a date to shoot for and give him something to hope for. When you have a date to work for, it seems to give you more motivation. He has been making some great progress and really is seeing the importance of the Gospel in his families’ life. He still needs to quit smoking and come to church. Those are two big things but with the Lord’s help and with faith anything is possible.

The other person we put on date is a girl named Chanelle. We have been teaching her for like two weeks now and she has started to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. She talked about how as she read she felt something that she hadn't felt from other churches. We were teaching a little bit about baptism to her and challenged her to be baptized on October 23rd. She is praying about it right now to make sure it is the right thing to do. Each time we meet with her we can see that she is gaining a testimony that the things we are teaching are true. We are going to follow up with her this week and see what her answer is. She said that she has a really good friend who is LDS and she is going to talk to her about it as well. It always helps to have a friend that is part of the Church for them to talk to.

It is good to see that the hard work that Elder Hoskin and I have put in is paying off. As it says in Alma 26:12 (11-16), "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." We know that the Lord is helping us as we go through each day. We have been trying to give a friendly/bold nudge to those investigators who aren't really progressing. We have been relying on the Spirit to help us to know what to say in each situation. We have this guy named Dick Nance. I may have talked about him before but he is an older stubborn military gentleman. We just flat out asked him if he would be baptized this week. He told us that he would love to be baptized but he doesn't want to join any church. We are finding out that he doesn't understand a lot of what the missionaries have taught him in the past so we realized that we need to go over the lessons again and clear up a lot of misunderstanding that he has about being a member. It is amazing how concerns come out when you ask the right questions.

We have been receiving some great training in District meetings. We are learning about helping our investigators and ourselves receive revelation through prayer, the Book of Mormon and through the Church. It has really helped me to look at how I teach and how I can better help investigator to feel the spirit and gain a testimony of the Gospel. We used the things that we learned with Chanelle and it totally cleared up a lot of questions that she had. It is amazing how the First Presidency knows what will help us become better missionaries. It is like they are inspired or something.

We just keep tracting along each day. We are teaching a lot and we are finding new people every day. We have been tracting each morning and afternoon for about an hour. It gives a new meaning of you reap what you sow.

The members in the Orchards Ward are taking care of us and we are being well fed. The Bennions are being amazing as always. They do so much for us and we are so grateful for them. I will probably be spending my year mark with them and burn my shirt there. They fed us these huge steaks and an amazing dinner. We had this new family move into our ward that is amazing as well, the Goins family. They love the missionaries and are way nice. They are also amazing cooks. They invited us over for their seven year old daughter’s birthday party. It was probably one of the best meals I have had. I mean I have had a lot of great meals. Like crab and steak and others. They made the best ribs and macaroni and cowboy stew. It was so good.

We have so many fun experiences each week and we are building great member trust. We have had a lot of great work with the less active members as well. We had a great dinner with Robyn Scott. She finally read the Book of Mormon on her own. I was so proud of her. She realized that it wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. Also we have been going to Brother Clifford's to try and pick him up for church. He again avoided the situation but we will continue to go back.

The work is continuing to progress and we are doing great. I love you all and hope life is going great. I have been studying in the Book of Mormon and I know that it is a true book. I am just in 1 Nephi again but it is great. The Book of Mormon truly is an inspired book and it is the key stone of our religion. When we find out that it is true, everything else about the Church is true as well. We need to make sure we are always building our testimony of the Gospel and exercise our faith. Remember to replace fear with faith. When we do this we don't need to worry because we can overcome any obstacle.

Love you all,

Elder Draper