Blessed are We!

Hey Yall!

This week has been a normal busy week in the life of a missionary. We have been on exchanges, which I love! We usually try to go on 2 exchanges a week with a different companionship of missionaries, we have 4 sets of Elders so we just switch them off every other week which turns out to be 2 exchanges with each companionship. The ones we have done this far have been great! We ended up being able to find a new investigator in Madison while I was here with Elder Arrington, we went store contacting, and even got to do service in the rain, we would hold up our umbrellas for people as the came into and out of Wal-Mart. On my other exchange, I left and went to Athens with the one and only Elder Hodge. I trained him back a year ago in Highland Home and we got to spend another day together. It was so much fun. We biked around, tracted and went to an optimist club thing haha it was great:) The other things about exchanges that I love is that you get to help the missionaries and serve them as their leader. That's probably the one reason why I love exchanges so much. We also get to go to both district meetings of both districts in our zone. I love being a zone leader and staying busy as can be. Its been great!

Probably the highlight of the week was the baptism we had. It was for Jason that ive been telling yall about. Now just a little about him that maybe I haven't told yall. He is 13 and loves hockey. He is kinda shy but loves us when we come over. And the whole story about how we found him is really cool. His mom, Cheri- its pronounced CHUR EE, haha total southern;) but she is from Colorado originally and that is where she got baptized back in early 2000's. She moved out to Alabama a couple years after her baptism and had never come to church. So she had been inactive for around 11 years. Now in the Madison Stake, they would have their meetings on Tuesdays. Well as a stake they decided, with a lot of other stakes down here, instead of having their meetings that they would have sheparding visits. This is going around to those that are struggling or inactive and visiting with them.  Baptism!! Me, Elder Johnson, Jason the little guy, Cheri and Chris her husband!

The Elders Quorum in our ward looked over the roster of names and decided that no one had ever seen or talked with Cheri, since she had never come to church. So they decided to go over and see who she was. The first visit they met her husband who told them that she was sleeping. They tried back the next week and no one was home. So they thought well maybe it was a wrong impression. Well the next day the Elders quorum president had a huge impression to go over and knock on the door one more time. After work that day he did exactly that. He went by himself and knocked on the door. To his surprise Cheri answered and told him he could come in and talk. He then asked if the missionaries could come by. They did and they would only see Cheri. She was scared that her husband and son wouldn't like the missionaries. Well when Elder Johnson got her 8 weeks ago he told Cheri that they wanted and needed to meet her son, Jason. Turns out that Jason loved the missionaries and wanted them to come back and teach him the lessons. Elder Johnson and Thompson taught him half the lessons. That's when I got transferred into Madison and was able to teach him the other half and get him prepared and ready for his baptism. He was baptized on Saturday and boy was it so cool to watch! Not only that, but his step dad, Chris, who Cheri is now married to came to the baptism and he is not a member. We were able to meet him for the first time and start to build a relationship with him as well. We are hoping he will let us teach him too! All of this happened not because of missionaries, although we did help teach him and get him ready, but it was because of the influence of a member and the ward! They were touched by the spirit which directed them to the elect who was ready! I love member missionary work, it truly does hasten the work so much faster!

This is the optimist clubs moto I guess haha. That was my week right there. As missionaries we tract and knock and contact and sweat and freeze and walk and bike and do all these things so that we can help change people. I love to see the change in others as they come unto Christ through baptism! Each day we do the same things that is we Find, Teach, and Baptize. So I guess the message I wanna leave yall with is this. As you listen to the spirit, act on the promptings. Don't wait! We don't have time anymore to wait. The work is hastening. Lesson 2 is that members can do so much more then they think they can. Yall can do and have so much more power then you think you have. You just need to Find, then Teach and as you do that you will see Baptism follow. Once we open our mouth we are successful! I love yall so much and hope and pray yall are well. Remember to be happy and to love life:)

Love Elder Hall:)