July 19, 2010

Heyyyyy. What up my family? Sounds like the both of you have been doing very well. Mom, I’m so glad to hear that things are going well with exercise. It seems like you guys are just having party after party after party at the house. Party animals...jeez.

Things down South are great. Another good week in the swamp. We’re picking up solid investigators left and right. The Lord is blessing us so much. It’s unreal. We have 5 baptismal dates right now. Well actually I should say 4 because we dropped Kennedy. Not officially, but she won't get in contact with us. So...dropped. Too bad. Some people just aren't ready.

But let's talk about the 4 :).  So I told you about Margie and how she has a date for the 7th of August. And while I was on an exchange, the elders that I was with got a text that said "Hunter's Creek West set a date with Hans for August 7th. A baptism and a wedding!" (Our zone leaders send out texts when someone in the zone sets a date). So I was just thinking "Huh? Who is Hans?" And I called Elder Berhold and Elder Wilks and they said they went over to Margie’s house and she wasn't there. But guess who was. Her boyfriendddd. And guess what they did. Yep. Set a date with him too. And then he said that he wants to get married before they get baptized so they can set a good example for their child. Little did he know that that was a necessary thing. But he said it himself! So fresh. I was sooo stoked! I was throwing fist pumps and getting' a little craze yo. So they're going to get married and then baptized together! Ahhhh! Yes. Anyway. So that is so sick.

But then the next person is Terri. And she came to church yesterday. But she said she didn't like it because she couldn't concentrate in Sacrament Meeting because of all the crying kids and stuff. And she didn't stay for Sunday School or Relief Society so she didn't get the full effect. Bummer. But she's still on track for the 31st as of right now.

And then the last person...Merdela. So here's the story: We were knocking doors and we met this 70 year old guy from Jamaica named Ronald. He said he didn't believe in God (even though I know he really does because a lot of people are just mad at God because of things that have happened in their life. But I can tell when someone believes in God even when they say they don't). He said that he doesn't understand why God lets bad things happen to people who have been good their whole life (typical question). Because he just lost a baby grandson and his wife had been struggling with cancer. So Elder Berhold and I bore solid testimony that God lives and Jesus is the Christ and that they love us and want us to succeed. We talked to him for a long time at the door step. I read some scriptures from the Book of Mormon to him from Alma 14:10-11 and told him that God lets us use our agency to choose what we will do in life and everyone will be judged according to how they use their agency, etc. and for some people they choose to hurt other people and whatnot. And then I read from Alma 32 about how faith is like a seed and we told him we want to help him regain his faith in Jesus Christ and God. The Spirit was strong but he was resisting it a little. But little by little he put down his walls. And then he looked at Elder Berhold and saw that he was sweating like crazy ha-ha and told us to come in. And we went in and met his wife Merdela. And she was lying on the couch. We found out that she had just been released from the hospital the previous day. She said that they were able to get rid of all the cancer and she talked about how she has always had faith, even through her hard trials. She’s a soldier pharrell (editorial comment: that means “for real” to those of us over 30.). She was still in a lot of pain. But we taught her the restoration and near the end I recited John 3:5 that says "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God" and explained how baptism by the authority of God is necessary if we want to live with Him again. Then we invited her to be baptized and she just started bawling. Like...bawling. And I was just thinking "crap I made her cry" hahahaha. Cause it was way sad. But then it was a happy-sad because she said yes. I guess she just felt the Spirit testify to her that it was something she needed to do. That family was so nice. Then the daughter talked to us about "Jehovah God" for a long time ha-ha. She’s going to the Jehovah's Witness church I guess. But she said she still hasn't found where she feels most comfortable. Every time I hear "Jehovah God" I cringe a little. Ha-ha oh well. But anyway so we set a date with Merdela for the 14th of August. But we went back on Friday and sadly, Ronald told us she went back into the hospital because she had a heart attack. So keep their family in your prayers. He said she should be out of the hospital sometime this week. So we'll be going back over there within the next few days. So we had a really good week!

The Church is true. God lives. Jesus Christ lives. Life is good. I love you both. Have a “blessful” week! :)

-Elder Austin Gable Engemann aka Dubee Fresh