So this week was not quite as great as last week, but it was still WAY
good!! We were able to see so many miracles.
So the most important things that happened this week is that we were
able to have member present lessons with both Cali and Toese! They are
both doing sooo good! So on Friday we had a lesson with Toese at our
branch mission leaders home. We went over the restoration in further
detail, and then watched the Restoration DVD with him. He was like
completely blown away! After the video was over, he was like
completely speechless. All he could say was, "wow that was powerful".
It was so cool! We KNOW he felt the spirit. It was kind of sad,
though, because he wasn't able to make it to church on Sunday.
Remember how I said that his girlfriend is a member? Well it sounds
like he and his girlfriend had some sort of fight on Saturday morning,
and it lasted like really late into the night so he was just not
feeling like church Sunday morning. We're hoping that this will be a
growing moment for him, and he'll realize that he can't do this for
his girlfriend or for anyone else...he has to do it for HIM.
Our lesson with Cali on Sunday, though, was terrific!! We had it at
the Creasons home, who are a family that she's gotten really close
with in the branch. We also had two of her friends that are members
there as well. We taught her the Restoration again as well because our
last lesson with her was just so jumbled and crazy because there were
like 12 people there. It was much more personal this time and we were
able to use a lot of How to Begin Teaching Points (if you don't know
what that is, read the section in chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel...yes
I'm pushing for you guys to read Preach My Gospel...its a terrific
book haha). But guess what? She's accepted to be baptized!! When we
asked her she was like, "uh...I might." Haha and when we started
telling her about how we think she can be ready for baptism by March
14th, she seemed a little hesitant. I was able to bear my testimony
about how I know that by setting a goal to be baptized on March 14th,
she is showing Heavenly Father that she is willing to show her faith,
and that He will bless her with an answer to whether she should be
baptized or not. She just gave us this big smile and was like,
"okay...why not?!" And we all laughed and it was just great. We asked
her how she felt and she told us that she was pretty nervous, but she
felt kinda peaceful. We were able to tell her that it was the Spirit
that was there, telling her that what she was doing was right.
So I'm sure you all heard about the super crazy blizzard that hit New
York...well we were pretty bummed because it didn't really hit where
we're at at all. We had this big conference call with the mission
president about all the precautions and procedures we should be doing
to prepare for it, and that we should expect the worst case scenario
for everything and we were all getting pumped to survive another "Day
After Tomorrow" if you've seen that movie.....but it never happened
here haha. We had to go in early on Monday night, and we couldn't
drive at all Tuesday, so all we did was shovel snow for people that
day. It was pretty fun! I was kinda hoping to be in a blizzard but
hey...maybe next time.
So we did have a pretty frustrating moment. We've been trying to set
up a sports night at the Newburgh chapel for the last month...and
every single time it fails miserably. This time, we had a guy that was
supposed to bring a few people bail out on us last minute. He was also
supposed to email all of the guys that we play basketball with to try
and get them to come, but he never did that, so hardly anyone knew
about it! The only guy that came was Brother Folau. He's an assistant
coach for the rugby team here at West Point. He's a super cool guy!
We went on a split with the Newburgh district leader and his companion
this week. I was in Newburgh with Elder Giesel, the district leader.
He's a Spanish speaking missionary, so alllll of our appointments were
in Spanish. I've never fallen asleep in a lesson before, but I got
close this time haha. I couldn't understand anything, so it was just
really hard to stay focused. It was fun, though, because for one of
our appointments, we were on our way to go look someone up, and as
were walking to their door, we here him yelling to us from this yard
thing in the middle of the apartment complex. He waves us over and we
see that he's playing in the snow with his nephew. He didn't speak
English, so while Elder Giesel was talking to him, I made a big
snowman with his nephew hahaha. And then we helped him make this big
snow tiger! It was actually pretty cool! I'll try and get pictures to
you next week.
But yeah...so that was about my week! It was great! We had a lot of
fun in the snow and we have two awesome investigators. I love it here
sooo much!! I can't believe that I have less than 5 months left now.
That's so crazy. I'm going to be super sad to leave, but I'm also very
excited for the next part of my life to start. Life's just great isn't
it? Well, I'd better get going but I love you all so much! Take care!!
:)
-Elder Stafford
Picture:
So...this is my view from my apartment. That river is the Hudson. This
is after it snowed a little over the weekend. Isn't that gorgeous?
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