This has been a busy week! We had a Zone Conference and 3 exchanges, so we were all over the mission! I got to go back to Newport and that was so fun! We had coordination that night so I got to see and surprise some awesome members, it was great! :) We also saw some of the people I taught there which was fun! S. and D. are getting married on the 23rd this month and they are expecting it sounds like! They don't have a set baptismal date but hopefully this next week.
I got to go on exchange with a new missionary which was really cool. We found a lady who we gave a Book of Mormon to who was at Wendy's! She sees missionaries there a lot and has always wondered what we do, but she's been working. She was on break when we met her and it was great to see Elder R. testify. We taught the Plan of Salvation to a man who is recovering from some addictions right now and it was such a cool experience. He loved how God knew us before we were born, how we have a purpose here on earth, and that we are going somewhere after this life! Then late that night as we were out on the street catching up with a few people who they have met before. We had some interesting experiences. We met a HUGE (like just really tall and strong) older man who said his name was Void, and that he owns a studio. He raps and sings. It was pretty crazy, we saw him then decided to go talk to him because we talk to EVERYBODY, and then when he turned around we thought we were dead! Haha, he was pretty cool though. We said hi to this lady a little while later and asked her a question because we were a little lost, and she just gave a quick answer and kept walking. I had no idea in my mind how to relate our little conversation to the gospel and she started to walk away quickly. We almost turned around and kept walking too, but then I just felt like I should say something more. I turned around and said something, although I have no clue what I said or asked her, but all I know is that it definitely wasn't very smooth and didn't make a lot of sense. She turned around though and then next thing we knew we were teaching her about the Restoration of Jesus Christ's church and giving her a copy of the Book of Mormon. Those Elders are going to go visit her this next Wednesday, and it is pretty cool how the Lord always makes our efforts, no matter how frantic they are, work out for good! :)
T. and M. both came to church again this week. We were hoping to have 9 people there, but lots of people had to cancel. That's how it goes sometimes, but were gonna help them all make it there one of these days! :) T. is planning to be baptized on the 22nd and has his interview today. There have been a few hiccups recently, so prayers on his behalf would be great!! M. is amazing!!! She is one of the most amazing people I've met in my life. She has sacrificed so much for her family and kids and works so hard for them. She is going to be baptized on the 30th now we think. She accepted the Law of Tithing this week, which is amazing to me because she is working two jobs all to support kids going to college, family with health problems, and keep her little apartment. She knows it is a commandment and God will bless her, and I think it is amazing to see that much faith.
:)
Elder Bednar will be visiting our mission this week and everyone is really excited! :)
Sure love you all and hope you have a great week! :)
Love,
Elder Branch
