Friday, February 12, 2010

Laser Tag; Baptism; New Stake Looming

1 February 2010

Dear Family,

We are looking forward to Saturday because they are rearranging the ward boundaries int he St. Anthony Idaho Stake. They are also creating a new ward. Everyone has their theories about hot it is going to work out, but nobody really knows. We have heard that the last time they did something like this was 25 years ago. It is the talk of the town. Everywhere we go people ask about it.

Transfers are coming up again a week from Wednesday. We will find out what is happening on Sunday night. It is weird how quick time goes by. I honestly have no idea what is going to happen. Elder Walker is pretty convinced that he is going to leave, and that I will stay. We'll just have to wait and see.

In Rexburg there is a place called "The Craze." Some missionaries have done a lot of service there. It is just a fun hang out spot, food, games, laser tag, etc. The owner told the missionaries that we could have a zone activity of laser tag for free. So about 12 of us from the zone went and played laser tag for an hour. It was a lot of fun.

Zoey Bloom was baptized on Saturday. It went well. I wrote to Dad about it in an email. She is a nine-year-old girl and the family is doing a pretty good job of staying active. Both the parents are converts. The mother was baptized in her late 20s or early 30s, and the father's family are members, but he was never baptized until a few years ago.

Well, I know this is short, but I need to go. Thank you for everything and just hang in there.

Love,
Elder Call

"Miracles Continue to Happen"

25 January 2010

Dear Family,

To be honest, I don't know if much of anything of note has happened this week. It has just gone by so darn quickly. Transfers are coming up in a couple of weeks. Elder Walker thinks that I will stay and that he is going to be transferred. But I think it is the other way around. At the end of this transfer it will be 4.5 months in St. Anthony.

When I was on exchanges with Elder Flores this week, Elder Walker and Elder Hernandez went to go teach one of our investigators. He is probably about 40 years old, and his wife and kids are all active in the Church. Just a week or so before Elder Walker came here, Elder Johnsen and I were going through the former investigators section of the area book. We saw his name and we both felt inspired to visit him. He lives in Wilford 1st Ward. A couple days later we were talking with Bishop Stoddard out in Parker 1st Ward. We asked him if he knew anyone we should go visit, and he mentioned this man's name.

So we went out and met him and set up an appointment to teach him. That appointment was to be on Elder Walker's second day in the mission field. That first meeting was pretty powerful. We have met with him probably about every week to 10 days since. We have had several meetings that were very Spirit-filled. But we would never commit to being baptized. In our first meeting he told us he believed the Book of Mormon to be true as well as Joseph Smith's being a prophet of God.

Then in this last appointment that Elder Walker, Elder Hernandez, and Brother Nelson visited him, he told them that the next time we would meet he would have a day in mind to be baptized! He said he needs to talk it over with his wife, but he will have a day. We are very excited and hope he can have the strength to overcome what it is that is holding him back.

Miracles continue to happen.

Love,
Elder Call