If God Believes In Them, So Can We....Never Give up On Anyone.

This week has been such an incredible week for us. Transfer calls were last night and I found out that both Elder Van Halder and I get to stay for another transfer. Neither of us wanted to leave so it was such a huge blessing. We're also getting sisters into the other half of our ward so that should be an interesting transition. We're expecting a lot of good things from them and the ward is pretty excited.

      We had some amazing miracles this week. We were riding our bikes to visit a member that is like a mile and half from us, so we used it as an opportunity to talk to some people. We rode by the middle school and saw someone sitting on a lawnmower a ways off. We kept riding because he looked busy and he was kind of far away, but we knew we needed to talk to everyone, so we flipped around to go talk to him. He was totally uninterested and wouldn't take a card or anything, so we left and kept going. When we got to the spot where we had turned around to go talk to the guy, we saw a 14 year old kid walking home from school. He asked if he could introduce himself and told us that we could come over that night to pray with him and his family. We went over that night and were able to talk to him and his mom for a while about the restored gospel. He has had some challenges with bullying and other stuff at school, so we had some applicable conversations about our Savior. God put Collin in our path that day, but we would have missed him if we wouldn't have followed the command to talk to everyone. It was a powerful testimony builder for us that we really need to talk to everyone.
     Then the other day we were walking out of a member's home and we hear, "Hey are you missionaries?" Another 14 year old walked up to us and started talking about his life. His mom is LDS, but he doesn't live with his mom. He told us that we could come over some time and talk to his family. We've been over there twice now and there family has been really prepared for the gospel. The dad reminds me so much of Jake because he struggles to believe in Christ, but he's looking for truth. Jake got to be there for the second lesson and we all got to feel the spirit testify of truth. We see so much good ahead for this family!
      Oh man I could really go on and on about this week because that was just the start of so many miracles. I learned a powerful lesson that we can never give up on anyone here in this life. Heavenly Father has provided us, His children, with a way to be successful in this life and to return to live in His presence. For us to be disciples we have to follow that and plan for others' success and seek to help them reach their potential. Some of these investigators seem like they're never going to move, but some that I had almost given up on are now progressing the fastest. I learned a powerful lesson that everyone has the potential to accept and live the gospel. If God believes in them, so can we.
     Well I'm excited for another transfer here in Choctaw. There is a lot ahead of us. I love you all so much! HFF
-Elder Hoddy