Monday, November 13th 2018

Everyone always told me that on my mission I would meet a lot of amazing people. It's only my second week and I find that to be true. The ward here is amazing and their efforts on member missionary work are fantastic. I would like to tell you about a couple of people in the ward who are amazing.

The first person is a lady who used to work for the government, and retired and is living alone. She lives in the country away from people and calls her house the House of Horrors. Elder Cropper and I were putting up a fence for her and we talked a lot about her life living in the House of Horrors. This lady reminds me so much of Gloria off of "Because Of Winn-Dixie."

The next person I would like to talk about is a man who is a 75 years old, and a convert of 48 years ago. His wife past away a couple years ago. He comes with us to teach lessons all the time, and is so friendly and gets along well with all sorts of people. He played minor league baseball before he was a convert. I love to hear his testimony about the plan of salvation. 

The next person I would like to talk about is a man who plays the organ in sacrament meeting. We went over to his house to put up some bunk beds and set up a bed downstairs. His wife is having knee surgery so we set up a bed on the first floor so she would not have to walk up the stairs. We could not find the hardware needed to assemble the bunk beds. Someone suggested a prayer. He offered the prayer, and shortly after some more searching, we found the hardware upstairs in a box. I love how faithful he is. I have had so many prayers answered in the past couple weeks. So many little things that Heavenly Father cares about. 

The whole ward is full of amazing people. This week we had the annual ward chili cook-off, which is kind of a big deal. Each year the winner gets the golden apron. It has been passed down for years and the winner each year signs it and keeps it until the next year. It was nice to talk to non-members or less active people that were invited to the event. 

This week we had our first special training where all the newcomers and their trainers go to. It was nice because I was able to see my buddies from the MTC. The mission president and his wife were there. They told us we would be switching over to smartphones in the next month, and we would also be using Facebook. We still get to keep our tablets. We also talked about the temple visitor center. Those who go to the visitor centers who are investigators are 5 times more likely to be baptized. 

We are teaching two young boys who recently got baptized and the mom reactivated and the dad a non-member. But the last time we met, the dad ASKED for a Book Of Mormon. YES! 

We had our primary program this week and it was on choosing the right. It was very well done, and everything they said I applied to missionary work. 
Something funny happened. Elder Cropper and I went tracting in the ghetto and saw a Ferrari in the parking lot. 
It is getting cold, but I am staying warm.  I have not even broken out the big coat yet. 
This week has been another fantastic week, I'm loving every experience I have. 

Elder Spurgeon