Moving...

Monday 7th April, 2014

So this week Sam had my first baptism in this area, Mary Allen was baptized and Sam had the privilege of performing the baptism, for the first time on his mission! She has changed so much, and she is loving church, she's been fellowshipped well. Sam actually had to baptize her twice, her hand didn't go under the water completely the first time. Elder Bowser did the confirmation the next day, she is getting to see her daughter again, Sam is confident she will get her back, everybody is on her side.

This week has been another great week. They didn't teach anywhere as many lessons as last week (we taught 15 lessons this week). They lost a couple of days doing service. There was a sister who had her house short sold, so she had two days to get out. They helped box, load the U-Haul, unload it, and then box and load it again. It took almost two straight days, they got to leave a couple of hours early, but one set of elders were there from 10am - 9pm, they were there from 10am - 6pm on Tuesday, and most of the previous day as well. Sam and Elder Bowser helped pack up all of her food storage, there were tins dating back to 1991 in there. There was so much junk she didn't need it was frustrating for Sam loading 20 year old lamp shades, and 30 year old ultrasound machines,  just total junk she will never need.

They started teaching a man called John, he is a landscaper and just recently lost his wife. They talked for about an hour on two separate days, he told them about some experiences he's had in the past, and explained that normally he doesn't talk religion with people, and for some reason he didn't tell them to go away. He accepted the invitation to work towards baptism, they even talked about how he could be sealed to his wife in the temple, which is also something he ultimately wants to work towards. He was also telling them about how he is trying to find his purpose in being here, and said that he believes they are the reason and can help him find that purpose.

They also taught one of their members friends, Ash, they had a really good discussion with him. They are using a new style of teaching, and it was amazing for Sam to watch as he pretty much taught himself the plan of salvation. The fall of Adam and Eve is probably one of the hardest principles to teach without going off on a tangent, but he sat considering what he had just read for a few seconds and then asked: "Wait, isn't it a good thing that the fall happened? Why does everyone else think it's such a terrible thing?"