3 x 3 x 3

Monday, May 6th 2013

This week has been a great week for Sam, he had a great experience when he was out knocking doors. He does this thing called 3 x 3 x 3, where he tries to visit a less active family, if they aren't home then he will knock on the 3 doors to the left, 3 doors to the right and 3 doors on the opposite side of the street.

Him and his companion started knocking on the doors and on house that Sam knocked on a lady called Annie answered the doors, she told him that she was Catholic and went to a different church, she said she couldn't speak with them because her daughter was crying, but they could come back the next day to talk more with her. They finished off the 3 x 3 x 3 and as they were unlocking their bikes a car pulled up near them. Sam said to Elder Blanco that they should go and talk to them but it turned out to be Annie! She said she had been looking all over for them, then she started crying and told them that 10 minutes before they knocked on her door, she found out her mother had died (which is why her daughter was crying) her daughter then asked her why she didn't invite them in, because what they had to say would probably make her feel better.  She realised her daughter was right, so she got into her car and started looking for Sam and his companion. She gave them apples and water which was nice and they explained to her that their message would make her feel batter and comfort her, and they confirmed the appointment for the next day!

 

Sam said it was an amazing experience, and it goes to show that Heavenly Father really does prepare people to receive the message of the restored gospel. They haven't been able to contact her yet, since she had a family emergency (which is to be expected) but they are definitely going to follow up ASAP!

 

He also had another good experience last night, him and Elder Blanco were riding home and Sam hit something on the road, he had no idea what it was, but he got pinch flat (flat tyre) LIterally 20 seconds later some members from another ward pulled up and asked if they would like some brownies. Elder Blanco told them Sam had just punctured his tyre, luckily the family lived 2 minutes away, so the husband dropped his wife off at home and came back to pick them up. They both had to share one seat which was funny, but the timing was so perfect it was like something from a movie!

 

 

This week Sam also had the baptism of Hunter and Connery Hardcastle! Sam was asked to give the opening prayer and Elder Blanco was asked to talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sam said it was a great baptismal service, and a lot of people were crying. The chapel they were in looked like it had no money spent on it, there was no hot water for the font, so they had to boil pans of water and tip them into the font. (In this photo Sam is obviously much taller than Hunter so he was trying to squat so he didn't have to lift his arm so high but he was too tall!)

After the baptism they helped one of their investigators Adrian move in with his room-mate. Her stuff was made out of granite, and it was really heavy, but luckily they had lifting belts which made everything a lot easier. It was still really hard work for them though, it would have been impossible to move the stuff without it! Adrian bought them a Hawaiian BBQ which was really nice of him, it took them from 2:30pm-7:30pm to move all of the stuff, then immediately afterwards they had to go to another house and pull weeds for another 90 minutes! It was a great day of service for them and Sam felt like they had really bonded with Adrian and got to know him much better!

On Friday Sam and his companion got to help out at the Nevada Special Olympics, they were there from 7am until 1pm. Sam was in charge of gathering together the people who were competing, guiding them to the check-in, then to their sears, then to the track. It was another great experience for Sam, it was a really hot day as well which he loved!

 

 

Sam was teaching Hunter at a members house called Brother Law, he brought down a lizard and a snake! Sam said it was one of the easiest snakes to handle, it pretty much just sat in his hand. Also in the background of this photo you can see a wooden Facsimile from the book of Abraham!

Even though all week was a great week for Sam and Elder Blanco, they did have some bad news! One of their investigators Devonte, told them he didn't want them to visit him anymore and another investigator Pedro, decided he was more comfortable at his own church. Overall the experiences he had this week had more than made up for that!

 Sam wants to let everyone know that he loves his mission more and more, he actually sometimes forgets he is on a mission as its just what he does now!