Investigators Galore!

Monday, May 20th 2013


A lot has happened this last week, Sam has 4 new investigators and 1 new potential investigator. They looked at the former investigators list, and there was someone who had been receiving lessons from the missionaries 1 year previous, but had stopped. Sam and his companion decided to visit them and they were really receptive, their names are Shaun and Amy, they have a 4 year old son. They told them after they had left that Shaun studied the Book of Mormon for 3 hours straight. One of the members invited them over for dinner, everyone got on really well, especially their sons! They also attended church the next day and they are getting on really well with the members in the ward.

Also there is a lady called Linda Wells and her husband Fredrick, they had Sam and Elder Blanco over for a lesson, she said she has read the Book of Mormon 3 times, once in the 90's, once recently and she is currently in Alma reading it again! She knows its true, but she has a hard time accepting that our church is the only one with true authority to baptise. Sam thought the lesson was really entertaining as they are both really enthusiastic. He said that they are the living stereotype of black church goers, saying 'Amen' and 'Praise the Lord' all the time! Sam thinks its great! Since they had a lesson with them, they are no investigators and no longer potentials.

 

This is a photo of some really heavy clouds that were coming over the mountains, Sam thought it was going to rain, but it only sprinkled a little bit then stopped.

Last night Sam had a great experience, as he was cycling home Elder Blanco suddenly had the idea to visit Brother Neff (he is fellowshipping another one of their investigators, Adrian) as they started walking to his house, they started talking to a man called Chris who was sorting some stuff out in his garage. He said he is familiar with what they teach but doesn't like how they 'worship Joseph Smith as a God', they explained that they don't, and he had some other misconceptions that they also explained, then he asked them for a Book of Mormon! As Sam and Elder Blanco both bore testimony, his whole attitude changed, and he asked them for specific scriptures which has really helped them out. He said his girlfriend is about to be baptised into the church, and he needs to understand it better. He went from being sort of anti, to really receptive within the space of a few minutes, it was a real testimony builder for Sam. He prays every day that he will be prompted to find those who are prepared to receive the message of the restored gospel, and it just goes to show that it does happen!

Just for an FYI, last transfer they taught a total of 60 lesson, not including lessons they taught to members as well. Elder Blanco showed Sam one of his planners where he had taught over 100 lessons in a transfer (6 weeks) He also has been called as District Leader, so Sam thinks it will be fun AND he gets an extra 2 hours of study a week!

Sam will be with Elder Blanco for another transfer, Sam thinks he will stay in this area for 1 extra transfer and Elder Blanco will probably be transferred back to one of the Spanish speaking mission areas.

The forecast for this week is going to be above 30 all week but peaking at 35 tomorrow!

 

Just to finish this post with a photo of a spider which Sam thought was pretty cool! It was at a night time but you can see it better on the camera than he could see it!