August 25, 2015

Hey Family!

So transfers happened! I stayed in Volcano Cliffs with Elder Burton which I was happy about! Our whole zone got switched around and we got two brand new missionaries! It was cool to see them and help them out a little bit! It reminded me of when I was brand new and how nervous I was and how much I didn't know! It's weird to see how far I've come!

This week was great for us! We spent a lot of time finding new investigators but were also able to meet with the investigators that we do have and teach them! We met with Jim Millard this week. Idk if you remember him but when I first got to the area Elder Mikesell and I taught him and set a baptism date with him, but ever since then he has dropped off the planet like no contact at all! So one of the days last week we decided to drop by his house and he ended up being there and let us in! He said that he was just getting ready to put his dog down which he took really hard, so we said a prayer with him and set a return appointment to come back and teach him. So we went on splits on Thursday this week and I went with our Bishop to go visit Jim, and we basically caught up with his life and asked him if he had any questions or concerns. He focuses a ton on the deep doctrine of the Gospel and wants to know all of the "mysteries of the kingdom" I guess you could say, so we told him that he needs to start with a foundation of faith and prayer and the basics before he can gain a testimony of the deep stuff! We both testified and the Spirit was there and Jim said that he hasn't prayed or read in a while and he admitted that he needs to start doing that, so we committed him to do it and he said he would! We also met with Paul and his family again this week and taught them the Plan of Salvation! It was a really good lesson and they loved the idea of families being able to be together forever! Their son Isaiah actually sat in on the lesson this time and he ate it all up as well! We told him about Seminary afterwards because school is starting up and he said he really wants to go even though it's early morning! The whole family believes in what we have taught them and they accepted baptism so hopefully next time we meet we can set a date with them!

Anyways, I am loving being a missionary! It's a great feeling to come home at night just scorched from the sun and beat because you worked hard all day! I can't believe it's almost been a year already... I love all of you and hope everything is going well at home! Talk to you all later!

Love Elder Summerhays