Members Pave the Way for Missionaries

Dear mom and dad,

 

Today has been an incredible week, but dang it is getting hot. Haha when we get in for dinner we are usually soaked with sweat. It makes me pretty grateful for air conditioning. The area we serve in doesn't have a lot of members, so we've visited almost all of them and tried to build faith, but a lot of the time we end up tracting.

The other day we were tracting down a street and everyone kept telling us they weren't interested, until we got towards the end of the street and knocked on a door. A guy came out and told us that there were mormons two doors down that had helped him cut down a tree once. He let us in and talked with us for a while and we set a return appointment. Then we went to the next house, and the family living there welcomed us in and told us that their neighbors were mormons, so we were able to set a return appointment with them as well. It was crazy to see how much a member can break down barriers and let people become accepting of us. There are so many strange beliefs about us and everyone thinks we're crazy, so when a member shows that we're normal people it gives us that chance to get in the door and talk with people. I really hope that members in our ward will realize the impact they can make with people. Almost every person that lets us into their homes or sits and talks with us either has a friend or family member who is a member. Most people who have only heard of mormons aren't very willing to talk to us. Haha tracting definitely makes for funny memories though.

My favorite thing that happened this week was during a lesson. We are teaching a teenager and his mom who have pretty much heard all the lessons already but won't commit to baptism yet. We decided that we were going to watch the Joseph Smith movie with them, and I absolutely loved it and could totally tell they were feeling the spirit. After it was done we decided to simply testify of Joseph Smith, have a closing prayer, and leave. It was so powerful and I could see in that they knew it was true and that it was an amazing thing, but she doesn't want to be baptized because she loves her church so much. While we were walking to the car her son came out and asked when we would come back. I think he recognizes that this is what he needs to do and I'm really hoping that he'll be baptized soon because eventually I think his mom would become converted too and he would have the opportunity to baptize her. I'll keep on believing and praying til it happens.

We have so many amazing investigators here and I wish I had the time to tell you about them all. People here really are amazing and I love being here with them. Some of the missionaries are so cool too, and they definitely teach me lots. We are all really sad because our mission president leaves this week, and it's going to be weird to have a new one. It will be exciting to see the changes in the mission over the next couple years though. The Lord's work is hastening.

Love,

Elder Hoddy