ANOTHER WEEK HAS COME AND GONE!

1/18/11

Hello there,

I can't believe this week has already come and gone. It seems like yesterday I was emailing about the previous week. As I looked back over this week I was amazed at the things that happened. Nothing to amazing but it was weird to recognize how you can get lost in this work. Elder Lemperle and I have been working our hardest to try and find new people but it is slow going. We have been tracting everyday for around an hour and we know we will find people, we just need to be patient. The other hard thing this week was that two of our investigators from the young single adult branch dropped us. One of them was Shane Miller the other was Alicia. Shane didn't even drop us like a man, he sent his little brother out to say he doesn't want to meet with us anymore. It wasn't as hard with Shane because we just barely found him but Alicia was a little tougher. We had been having great lessons with her and we found out that her mom isn't supportive and has been giving her anti-Mormon literature. We told her roommate to just be strong and set an example. Maybe she will see a difference. It is just hard when you think you are making progress and they send you a text and say "ya, I need a break from you guys".

On a better note we have found a few new potential investigators. Nothing special but it is better than nothing. We have been doing a lot of exchanges this week. We have been trying to go on exchanges with all the companionships in our zone. This week I went on one with elder Baumgarte. I was up in College Place which is like Provo but for SDAs. We had a good exchange but it was hard to catch people at home. We finished our night by visiting a recent convert named Amila. He is this big Samoan. After the lesson he played some songs on his guitar and sang for us. Then last night and part of today I am on exchange with an elder from Ecuador. His name is elder Bao. He is really an amazing missionary who learned English in high school and is serving up in Walla Walla doing Spanish and English work. His English is really good but it is funny teaching him words that he doesn't know and phrases that are weird to him. We had some great lessons with investigators. One of the coolest things that I learned though was it doesn't matter what language they are speaking you can still feel the spirit. I had set up an appointment with a lady who understands Spanish better than English and so it gave Elder Bao the chance to teach a Spanish lesson all on his own. The Spirit that was felt was so amazing. He did an amazing job. He is a brand new missionary but I can tell his he is going to be amazing.

Last Wednesday we had Zone Conference up in Walla Walla. We learned a lot about asking inspired questions and how that can help our investigators learn. If you ask the right question you can help someone open up and get the most stubborn people progressing and thinking about the gospel. There was a really cool analogy about a cell phone and how it relates to the spirit. It went something like this. The spirit doesn't use words but more feelings. When our phone is on vibrate, we can feel it. When we put it in our pocket we are making it possible to feel it. But if we put it in our backpack we are less likely to feel it ring. Are we doing the things that will help us feel the Spirit or are we putting the Spirit in our backpack? Even when we are doing those things to help us feel it more we still need to pay attention and wait for it. Just like we can miss the cell phone vibrating in our pocket if we are preoccupied, we can miss the Spirit if we are not paying attention. We need to always be doing those things that will help us feel the Spirit so we can help others feel the Spirit as well. I love Zone Conferences. They are like General Conference in the way they answer questions that we have. If we listen to those things and apply them, they will help us develop those skills that will make us more effective instruments and help us fulfill the purpose of this life. After that Zone Conference we had a lesson with some investigators named Tiah and Dylan. Dylan is twelve but he is the most mature kid I have ever met. He is way more mature than I am, but that is not really hard to do. We tried to use those things we learned to find out their concerns. He told us he just struggles with Joseph Smith but everything else he believes. He said once he gets his answer for that he would love to be baptized. We told him that he needs to show his faith and as it is says in John 7:17, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine.” If we are obedient and sincerely ask, we will know of the truth of the Gospel. I hope all goes well with them and we will see how that goes in this coming week.

This time of year is amazing to look over the fields and mountains and see all the amazing things our Heavenly Father has made. Since it has been cold the deer have been coming into the fields to get food. It warmed up this week and the deer stayed around. As we drove the eighteen miles to church on Sunday, we saw probably 150 head of deer spread out through the drive. It is so fun to see them. Then when we drove the 50 miles to our one appointment in Ukiah and the views there were amazing. Those are things that help me know that there is a God and that He loves us.

Those are the main things that happened this week. We have been trying to visit all of our investigators, find everyday and teach lessons. I was looking through some pictures of my mission today and all I could think of was how much I love this work. I love my mission and there is nothing that could change that. I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep replacing fear with faith.

Love,

Elder Draper