Concerning Conversion

Good Morning,

We just had quite the announcement today from the mission department. Effective immediately, we are now allowed to email Priesthood leaders, friends, all family members, and recent converts as well. How crazy is that?? President Jones has encouraged us to please not allow this to distract us from the work, and to use this privilege wisely. It will really help me out as I haven't been able to send a letter to just about anyone since before Christmas.  It will be good to be able to communicate via email now.

Elder Gautavai, Atlanta Georgia Mission

I actually just barely got done sending an email to Elder Gautavai in Georgia. I just expressed my thanks to him for his humility and willingness to serve. It has been neat for me though, as I've drawn a lot of strength and comfort from the talk that he gave at his farewell. I listen to it often. He talked about how no unclean thing can enter into the Lord's Kingdom, but then also stated that no unclean thing will want to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, I know this to be true.

I also received the newsletter you sent out! I can't believe how much each of the Elders have grown over the course of their missions. I could really feel the growth in so many of them as they have experienced the Lord making their weak things become strong. I'm so happy for Elder Coffman especially. I admire his courage and his faithfulness in not only returning to the field, but also leaving the field 6 months ago. I'm sure that took so much faith and courage, and he is now seeing all of it being added upon himself. It is another amazing example for me to see.

This past week was a pretty good week here in Milwaukee. We were able to make some good visits, see A TON of appointments fall through, and set a baptismal date with two different investigators. It was a pretty gradual week, you could say, but we were able to reach the goals that we had set forth for the week. What a blessing!

I also got a hair cut this week, and the white guy butchered it. It was awful! I asked him what he knew about a "taper fade." I thought he'd know what he was doing because the last guy I got my hair cut by was white, and he did a really really good job. So I figured this guy would know exactly what a "taper fade" is.  Well...I now have more of a high and tight military look going on. I'm a little scared because we have a meeting with President Jones and the Milwaukee North Stake Presidency this Thursday, and my hair is still butchered. Well...I guess it was meant to be haha.

I have also decreased my workout a lot since being here in Parkway due to lack of motivation, and the lame excuse of it being cold haha. So...I was wondering if you could send me some white leggings? You know...like the ones that Mekelee has. I have been looking for them on P-days here in Wisconsin, but we only have Kohl's and Sport's Authority, and neither of them have them. I am thinking I would love some of those, so I can get back to running! Let me know if this is reasonable...

We met with a guy by the name of Elamin this past week who happened to be Muslim. He was nuts... We started off by asking him (what we thought to be) some simple and friendly questions, to help us gauge where he's at in life, and also if he had any expectations for our visit w/him. He would tell us that he didn't really appreciate the things we were asking him, but answered them because he felt we were somewhat trustworthy. Well...turns out he just had a bagillion different beliefs, and Elder Wright said it best, "man, he just doesn't have a belief." So that was my run into a Muslim guy.

We also met with a guy by the name of Justin, and his mom Sabrina. They were just as all over the place as our Muslim friend was. They both have a religious upbringing of sorts, but have done what a lot of people do, and just look for what they feel is good. We were able to sit down with them and share The Restoration with them, and with a little bit of work, I think we could actually get things going with them. It was just a little difficult as Sabrina claimed to be a prophet, and Justin kept yelling at us (while holding his Bible), "This is my source!" That was my run into some non-denomination folk this week

We also had a pretty good lesson with this less-active named Dennis A, who apparently looks like a guy from "The Office" named Dwight Schrute. We had a pretty good lesson with him about faith from Alma 32. We talked to him about how faith needs 3 big things to grow and develop, which are: daily scripture study, daily prayer, and church attendance each Sunday. We were able to invite him to come to church, and he was able to come this past Sunday!

We also set a baptismal date for a lady by the name of Ashley H. She came to us by way of member referral, and we've had some difficulty being able to have a lesson with her, but we finally had one on Sunday, and it was pretty good. Our struggle with her, just as most of our struggles are, will probably be that she doesn't have a job or a car, and doesn't have the greatest understanding when it comes to reading. She seemed very humble, and willing to grow, so we should be able to make some good progress! She has a baptismal date for April 13th.

Well I'll just leave with a short thought that I heard yesterday during church concerning conversion. It seemed that everyone at church was talking a lot about becoming converted and how testimony is just the beginning. I have really found that the best source to help us in our conversion is daily scripture study. I never understood what people meant when they would talk about the scriptures helping us to receive personal guidance in our lives. The thing that I have come to love about the scriptures is no matter what is going on in your life, it will always tell you what you need to do to increase your faith. The answer can be tough, and you may even want to reject it, but it's the only way to avoid all temptations and winds from the adversary.


Love you guys a lot!
Elder Gautavai