Hello!
This week has been a
good week. It had a rocky start, because I was sick all of Tuesday. We had to
stay home because I was feeling so sick. But luckily the next day I felt
better, and we were able to go right to work!
Just a little bit of
news that has been going on here...so recently ICE (the immigration police) has
been going around knocking doors to try and find illegals that are living here.
Of course, this has made our job ten times harder. If we don't know someone
really well, it's almost impossible to get in their door. There is an
environment here of panic and fear, not only with our investigators but also
with our branch members. So because of this, knocking doors has been absolutely
useless this week. We didn't have a whole lot of lessons because of this. It's
sad, because if the parents get deported they have to leave their kids here.
They practically become orphans.
Some other big news,
our most solid investigator and her husband lost their jobs this week. Because
of this, they couldn't afford their rent and had to move. They moved down to
Norfolk. But we were able to pass them off to the missionaries there, and they
should be getting baptized within the next two weeks!
We also had our other
investigator, Don Rafa, come to church for the third time! He still has
problems with being baptized again, but we are working with him slowly and
surely. He doesn't believe the Catholic Church has authority, but his big
problem is that his parents baptized him. And he feels like being baptized
again would denounce and disrespect his parents.
This week we also had
probably the best lesson of my entire mission. We were knocking some doors in a
trailer park, and a man walking on the street walked by and said hi to us.
Of course, we went over and did what missionaries do, ask if there is a
time that we could share a message with him. He said another day when he
had time he would love to. We continued knocking. We got a few doors slammed in
our faces, cussed out once or twice, and I was starting to get
discouraged. We were walking back to leave, when we came across this man
again! He said a little bit of time just opened up in his day, and we could
stop by right then. We went to his house, and met his roommate. We taught both
of them the Restoration. Turns out, they were both looking for a church to go
to. They have had rough lives, but were looking to change. During the lesson,
they even recognized that they were feeling the Spirit! After we went over the
first vision with one of them, he stopped and said "this is right. I know
it is. I have chills right now." We set them both with baptism dates, and
left. Sadly we won't be able to teach them anymore, because they only speak
English. But we passed them off to the English Elders, who taught them three
times in the next two days, and had them both at church this past Sunday. They
are excited to get baptized and are already making changes in their lives.
Well I think it's
about time to have a few laughs. So I will tell the funny stories that happened
this week. This happened actually a few weeks ago, but I forgot to write about
it. We were over at our branch mission leader's house, and we were going to
help him put some pieces of wood down in his attic. We all got up in the attic,
then started to walk on the trusses avoiding the drywall. Well. Elder Martinez
didn't know you can't step on drywall, so within the first ten seconds of being
in the attic he took a step on drywall expecting a solid floor. Half of his
body fell through the roof, and he barely caught himself on the trusses before
his whole body fell through the ceiling! His kids below were watching the
television, and when he fell through the ceiling we just heard them scream at
the top of their lungs. I still get a small smile trying to picture it from
their perspective. Watching tv, then out of nowhere half a body falls through the
ceiling above their heads. Haha. Elder Martinez luckily didn't get hurt too badly,
he just got a big bruise on his side for a while.
One more funny story…two
days ago we were in a lesson. We finished with a prayer, and got up to leave.
Then Elder Berry started heading for the door. Elder Martinez and I tried to
warn him...but he continued on and opened the door. Well. He went to the wrong
door. Even our investigator burst out laughing when Elder Berry opened the
door. The door to the closet.
This week has been a
lot better than the last. Lots of laughs and hard work. That's what I've found
is key for happiness and success. Hard work, and having fun while doing it.
That's all for this
week. I love you all so much. Thank you for everything y’all have done and continue
to do for me.
-Elder Adams
Photo texted to us by a branch member on Sunday 1-10-16.
Elder Martinez, Elder Berry, and Elder Adams
Elder Martinez, Elder Berry, and Elder Adams
The sister missionaries in their branch made a Christmas card identical to the one Elder Adams and his companions made. Pretty funny!
Zone picture.
Zone picture.
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