Tore It Up This Week

Good Morning,

Elder Xiong and I tore it up this week, and went completely HAM (refers to being unstoppable) on Sun Prairie. Elder Xiong and I didn't have a single second to rest, and oh boy were we busy this week. We were all over the place, feeling the spirit, and sharing the Gospel. It was yet another testament that exact obedience, and sacrifice, bring forth the blessings of Heaven.

Sister P is progressing well. We probably won't be able to get her to be baptized by September 30, but she will be baptized for sure. Since she is living w/her Fiancee, Brother D, they will have to get married before we can proceed w/the baptism. We had a lesson w/her on Sunday, and that was an awesome lesson. We taught her about the importance of prophets, and the divinity of the Book of Mormon. Essentially we taught The Restoration. It was a great lesson, and we again, committed her to reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. She cheerfully committed to our invitation, and we know that the spirit was felt throughout our lesson.

Elder Gautavai has come up w/yet another way of sacrificing for the Lord that has brought immediate blessings. This past week Elder Xiong and I committed to not checking mail at all. We have decided we are only going to check mail on either Saturday evenings or Sunday mornings, depending on how we feel. It brought great peace to my soul to continue to sacrifice my will to the Lord's. It has helped me to continue to keep an eye, "single to the glory of God."

I officially know what misery is going to be like.  What a terrible deal! We helped a less-active family re-shingle their roof this past Saturday, and it was one of the worst experiences of my life. The service itself, and the good that it brought was amazing, but the labor that is involved in shingling a roof is TORTURE! My feet were dying! If it's one thing I never, ever want to do again, it's shingle a roof. So let everyone know if they need their roof shingled they can count me out!

That's funny Utah won. There is a family here who are big BYU fans, BIG BYU fans, so I decided I would cheer for the Utes. On Sunday, I was informed that Utah had won, and so I was anticipating the arrival of the Hodges at church haha. Sure enough, right when they walked into church, I had a real nice greeting for them. Haha Sister Hodges looked like she was going to kill me, it was hilarious! They are a super nice family, and we even have dinner w/them this up coming Sunday.

I see you asked about "J's Hmong Farm." Haha that's actually just what I call it. N is the sweetest little Hmong girl I have ever met, and her husband is one of the nicest guys I have ever met as well. She knows the church is true, there are tons of fellowship from the ward, N just has to committ herself to coming to church on a more regular basis. We usually work on her farm once or twice a week for about 4-5 hours. It can be tough, but I think it's really fun. We pick all sorts of vegetables. I would never want to have a farm, that's what the store is for. But I love helping N out, and sharing messages w/her family as well. Crazy Hmong people.

The picture of Cam looks great. I was actually listening to his farewell talk the other day as I felt impressed to do so. I love the part of his talk where he talks about unholy things will not want to dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven. Alma explains it best when he teaches his son that the spirits that possess our bodies now will be restored unto us in the next life as well. He counsels his son saying, "see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again."

Well, this P-day should be a good one. We still have to go do our shopping, and then we will probably just relax till dinner. We have dinner w/the Archer family tonight, and they make good food, so I'm excited for that. We are also looking to visit a less-active who has been dodging our appointments lately, but he said that Monday night would work great. It should be a great P-day, and it should catapult us for the rest of our week!

This week should be another great week for Elder Xiong and I. We are at a stage where we are looking to do a lot of following-up, and still do a lot of finding. We are hoping to have 3 baptismal dates by the end of this week, and there's no doubt in my mind that we can have that many! I won't be discouraged if we don't, but if we don't get 3 then we will have to recommitt ourselves and work a little harder.

In a talk titled, "Safety for the Soul" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Elder Holland expresses his testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. He states that, "I testify that one cannot come to full faith in this latter-day work—and thereby find the fullest measure of peace and comfort in these, our times—until he or she embraces the divinity of the Book of Mormon and the Lord Jesus Christ, of whom it testifies." Through thick and thin, our Father in Heaven has extended his loving hand, and has given us a resource to help us along the path. This resource is the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and as Elder Holland states, it testifies of Christ. This small and simple book can be a personal Liahona in our lives if we choose to establish our testimonies upon it. Through the hard times, and the good times, the Book of Mormon stands as an additional witness of Jesus Christ, and helps us to grow closer to him by familiarizing ourselves w/its teachings, and receiving a witness from the Holy Spirit that this book is, indeed, the word of God. I know this is true.

Love,
Elder Gautavai