So this week has had some pretty quality stuff that's been going on. I'll
start with the good time we had in fast and testimony meeting yesterday. We've
been teaching this guy named Bob who has been a pastor for over 40 years so he
knows his bible pretty well and he's good at what he does. We got him to come to
church yesterday, but we didn't really have time beforehand to explain what our
service is like, so while everything was starting I was trying to explain how
people could bear their testimonies and why we take the sacrament and stuff,
which he thought was super interesting. Then during testimonies he leans over
and says I want to go up there and introduce myself. Obviously I wasn't going to
try and stop him or anything, so he gets up there and shakes the bishoprics
hands and gets up to the pulpit and says, "Well obviously I'm not a Mormon"
Everyone had a pretty good laugh. He was wearing a preacher caller and stuff and
it was pretty obvious, but it was like the one moment during sacrament when all
of the sudden everyone was listening. He talked about pride and arrogance and
how that had been a big problem earlier in his life. Oh ya and by the way he has
been pentecostal all his life so he's used to yelling hallelujah and amen and
stuff like that. At one point in his testimony he makes a point and then says,
"Amen?" and you could hear a little grumble in the audience of people saying
amen, but not really sure if they should. I wish I could tell you this story
with my voice because it was super funny and awesome, but it was so cool that he
got up there the first time he had ever stepped foot in an LDS church. He'll be
baptized one of these days.
We set a baptismal date for Jake on November 9th! That's still a little
ways away, but he has been reading like crazy and he's keeping commitments and
stuff. We've been talking about strengthening that desire to believe and he has
had a lot of support from his LDS friends who live in California. There are a
lot of good things coming in his future. It's kind of tough to look at all of
this from his perspective because he's lived a certain way for the last 28 years
and now he's realizing that all of this is true and that he needs to change his
life. Living the gospel is so worth it though, and we know he'll realize
that.
We watched the restoration movie with the Helsleys this week and it was
awesome. It seriously answers so many of our investigators questions about
Joseph Smith and the early church. They found it extremely interesting because
they didn't know that there had been so much persecution. They are definitely
progressing towards baptism, but it might take a while. The idea of 3 hours of
church seems crazy to them, but they love how family oriented everything is. I
also saw a tarantula crossing the street that night too which was awesome.
This has been an amazing week and we found out yesterday that Elder Evans
and I are both staying in the Village Ward for another 6 weeks. We are both
super excited to be staying because things here have been awesome. We're
teaching a ton of people and we have a couple baptismal dates set for this
transfer. The people here are awesome.
Well by the sounds of the emails I'm getting, life is going pretty good in
Orem. That is definitely going to be weird to come home to such a different
neighborhood, but that'll be fun. I love you family! We are the best family
there is. HFF
Love,
Elder Hoddy
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