WEEK EIGHT

Hey guys

This week was really fast and slow at the same time, if that makes sense. It felt like forever ago that I gave a talk, but it was just last Sunday. Anyways we had a zone p day on Tuesday with Faribault and actually just stayed the night on Monday so we didn't have to drive in the morning. We packed the car up with our mattresses and they didn't really fit so we just squished them in there and by the time we got everything in the car I couldn't really see behind us. On Tuesday we went bowling for a couple games and played basketball. It was a lot better than regular p day because p day is pretty much just doing chores and emailing, which is my favorite part. We went on splits that night and I went with Elder Bono to Northfield and we visited Brother Pietsch, a less active who actually used to be in the New Prague branch. We ended up being like 15 minutes late so when we got there he said we should have just been 30 minutes late because NCIS, or something like that, was on and it was only half way done so he told us to go get a pop and we just watched the rest of the episode with him. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do so I just went with it. After it was over we had a pretty good conversation and then we showed him a video because he always likes the videos. Elder Bono wanted to talk about his Temple covenants and what they mean to him. His ex wife was excommunicated and I think that has been hard for him. We invited him to go to church and try to get a temple recommend but he said he couldn't pay his tithing to get his temple recommend because his wife keeps suing him. I know the blessings that come from paying tithing and it says in 3 Nephi 24: 10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

On Wednesday we had a District Meeting and the Zone Leaders came and we had a training and we just talked about how we could make all of our areas better. Elder Moore and I left after that and we went to Elko New Market and tried to stop by some potentials and we were never able to have a lesson and we tried to stop by a less active named Hyrum Labaron and I guess his relatives are the ones that kept practicing polygamy. We have been trying to get a hold of him and when we when to his house his wife opened the door and talked to us for a little bit. She is a less active too and she wasn't in our area book so she hadn't even been to church in awhile.

Thursday we to Belle Plain and while we were there we stopped by another less active who is actually Sister Walsh's son. His name is Marty and he went on a mission to Argentina and when we got back he married a less active and he went less active with her. His wife was in another marriage and had two kids, but her ex husband isn't really accepting of our church so Blake and Gavin can't really be baptized if they wanted. It's a pretty rough situation and I really hope things will work out so they can get to church. Gavin actually came to church so that was really cool and we talked to him about football because he is really into that. We stopped by a nonmember named Chelsea Jackson and her husband is in boot camp and he is a member. He has been a member his whole life and has been going to church at boot camp. When we knocked on the door her mom opened the door and  let us in and then we talked with Chelsea about it and about her a little. She is 19 and has a 2 year old and they were from Utah before Chelsea moved here to her parents to help with the baby while her husband was away. Elder Moore asked her mom what church she went to and she goes to a friendship church. She knew a lot about our religion and she pretty much bashed us in a nice way. She thinks that if you believe in Christ you go to heaven, you don't have to work your way into heaven. She thinks that we are just trying to work our way into heaven by coming out here and how much service our church does and doesn't believe that we are going to make it into a higher heaven and that we won't be like Heavenly Father and have our own worlds. She believes that in heaven we won't be with our family but we will know who they are and will recognize each other. She said she knows the Book of Mormon isn't true because of anti Mormon books that have came out. She reads out of a different Bible that us so when Elder Moore would bring up scriptures hers wouldn't say the same thing and they pretty much had a Bible bash. Elder Moore said he didn't bash, but he totally did. I was trying to tell Elder Moore that we had to go because we were already late for a dinner, but he just kept trying to prove things. At the end she told us how she would pray for us to know the truth and stop believing all the things and said she admires how we are good people and she wishes Christians were like us in the missionary aspect of it and we tried to explain to her that we are Christians, but she is way to hard hearted and I kind of just wanted to tell her what's up. I didn't though and we left which was probably a good thing because I was getting pretty mad.

On Friday Brother Brimhall dropped of Elder Moore's loaner iPad. Earlier we called the mission office and they said to bring the iPad in and since Elder Moore doesn't have any money they would figure it out and it's possible there is still a warranty on it. It was really early when Brother Brimhall came so I don't really remember opening the door, but I'm pretty sure I just opened the door and grabbed the iPad and closed the door without a smile or anything or any words. We went to Montgomery and that night we stopped by Little Fawn's again and talk about baptism for Ezra. When we got there there were a bunch of girls getting their hair done for the homecoming game. There were like 15 of them in this tiny apartment so we just talked to Joseph and Ezra in the kitchen for a while and after they all left we talked to them about baptism and they said they are still going to think about it. Little Fawn gets off parole next year so she is excited for that and she is having a hard time with people and coming to church because she is tired of listening to people complain because of how bad she had it and how all she wanted to do is dope and how much she loves it, but she is 19 months sober from it. We showed her a really good video called the Savior Wants to Forgive and we showed her the Tattooed Mormon. I think she really wants to accept the gospel I just think it's going to take a while for her to do it. She is super awesome though and likes us to come over. She told us she did pray to know if God loved her and she said she did and she felt really good about it and that he does love her which is awesome.

We went back to Montgomery on Saturday to work at the food shelf and were able to get two new investigators Joan and Gail. Joan is homeless now from all the rain and her trailer flooded and she lost most of her stuff. She is living out of her car and she was very appreciative of us talking to her and asked for our number to talk sometime.  We invited her to the General Woman's Conference at the church and she said she would try to come. We invited Little Fawn to it too and some other people. Gail was super excited while getting food and was, in her own words, a kid in a candy shop. We talked to her a little while helping her get her stuff to her car and we gave her a call too and she said she would call us. After we were in Montgomery for a while we went back to New Prague because Brother Felderman was going to pick us up and go see Mollie with us. Unfortunately Mollie wasn't there even though we setup an appointment and she wouldn't answer our phone calls. We just went over to Brother Felderman's and talked to him and his wife for a little. Then we went to the General Woman's Conference and waited to see if anyone would show up that we invited, no one came, but we got free dinner. We helped them put stuff away and went and helped Brother Brimhall with the nursery.

On Sunday I blessed the sacrament with Mitch and usually Elder Moore does it with him. Mitch has a disability and he can't read because of it so you have to whisper it into his ear and he repeats you. It is really cool that he can still bless the sacrament and he is planning on serving a service mission. I was kind of nervous because I was nervous saying it myself and when I said it to Mitch he couldn't understand me sometimes and Elder Moore said it's hard when you say it and he messes up then you have to start over. I did survive though and I'm glad I was able to do it. We didn't stop by any investigators but we stopped by the Brimhall's for lunch then Brother Brimhall came out to teach with us. Brother Brimhall wanted to stop by the Dvoraks so we did and Brother Dvorak gave us a lot of advice and said that this is a mission that doesn't get a lot of baptisms and he said that people that get sent to places like South America and gets a lot of baptisms that because the need those baptisms to strengthen their testimonies. People that get sent to places like here that don't get a lot is because they already have a strong enough testimony which I thought was cool and it really helped me. He told us that even if we don't have a lot of investigators we always have less actives and part member families and to focus on them and to have a list of everyone and make note of who doesn't want contact and things like that so that we can keep our area organized for future missionaries. He said we may just be put here to plow the ground and plant seeds so that future missionaries can come and harvest what we planted. He said that we need to build that foundation here so that we can build on it and that if they don't figure out how to keep this place organized and get into like a joint teaching calendar setup so that members can go out teaching with us. If the missionaries don't stick with something it's like building a 15 mile foundation and nothing's ever gets built. I really think that members need to go out to with the missionaries to go teaching and I'm not sure how it is back home because we didn't seem as missionary oriented because pretty much everyone there is a member. Later we went to the Segers for dinner and talked for awhile and then we had a lesson. We had a really good talk with them about the lesson, I showed them the video Wrong Roads and I think you guys should watch it it's pretty legit. 

So the ZL's, Elder Bono and I have been racing to see who can finish the Book of Mormon first. I'm not sure who is in first, but I think I'm in first or second. This morning I just got to Jacob. In my reading this morning I read 2 Nephi 27-30 and I thought it was super powerful and I was like glued to the words. It talks about prophecies of the latter days and there is a lot of things that just make sense to me that this is the true church and I want to encourage you guys to read it and ponder it. In 2 Nephi 27 it says:

23 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.

God really is the same yesterday, today, and forever so why wouldn't he show himself to Joseph like he did to the prophets of old. Something that I think is awesome is that all these prophecies are coming true and all these people that are telling us that we are wrong and denying the truth are just helping our prophecies come true.  I love you guys and I am loving my mission and I'm excited for the rest of it and the many different experiences I will have.

Elder Bullock