It is COLDDDDD out here! It's been around 3 degrees as an average the last few days, but who cares!! We still found a bunch this week and had a great time!! T., who came to church last week, accepted a baptismal date for the 27th and is praying about it because he is nervous about how his family will deal with it since they are all Hindu, pray for him! :) We had stopped visiting D. and G. as much but then D. reached out this week. We went and had a good lesson with her and G., and D. came to church! She is nervous about going to church alone, but with more friends there she could still keep learning be really solid.
Last week we met a lady named S. who speaks Spanish and this week we had a member of our ward (L.) who recently returned from her mission in Spain come teach with/for us!! :) I was able to follow along and share a few thought with my limited Spanish, but L. was the main teacher. It was so awesome! S. said that she doesn't have a peep hole, but when we knocked on her door she felt like she should open it. Her son told her not too because who knew who it was, but she opened the door anyway! She is from Honduras and as a kid met missionaries there. She felt like it was a sign that we met her here which shows God loves her and has a plan, and we agree! :) We are visiting again this week with L.
For Christmas a really nice family in our ward bought all us missionaries really warm coats. As you know, the temperatures here have been crazy crazy cold so it was perfect! Elder Petersen and I have other warm coats, but one night I was wearing the one they gave me as we were out visiting people. As we were walking down the street in 4 degree weather with a strong wind, we saw a man on the other side of the street. We crossed to talk to him and yelled out hi, and he responded, "Hey Elders!" Whenever someone who you don't know calls you Elders, you know they either are a less active member or have a history of meeting with missionaries. He told us that his name was J. and that he use to be a member. He was baptized in the early two thousands, and his life had taken some crazy turns since. I won't go into too many details, but he is just couch surfing now and doesn't have a lot going for him. He only was wearing a jacket and looked super cold. We talked all about how his life had gone and promised him it's never to late to come back. We shared Mosiah 26:30 (Yea, and as often as my people repent I will forgive them their trespasses against me.) and the Spirit came in so powerfully. He started crying as we gave him a new copy of the Book of Mormon and promised he would be at church the next day. As we were about to leave I felt like I should ask if he had a coat. He said his jacket was all he had and next thing I knew I had taken off the coat the members gave me, removed my missionary tag, and was handing it to him. He resisted for a second, then quickly took it and put it on. He started crying again and we were able to have a prayer and give him a hug. The spirit was so strong as we walked... ran back to the car. (Cause now I was the cold one! ;) ) The next day J. showed up at church in the new coat and had a great time back at church. We'll keep working to help him get back on tract again.
That was my favorite part of Christmas this year. It was awesome how those members generous service to us missionaries was able to do much more than they could have anticipated when they gave it. :)
Love you all and welcome to 2018!!
Elder Branch :)
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