BEST WEEK EVER!!!!!!!!!

Holy. Cow. This week was soooo awesome!!! Oh my word so much happened
I don't even think I'll be able to remember everything!!

So, the first thing that happened was actually a knife to the heart
haha. So I don't know if any of you know, but this last Saturday was
the NBA All-Star game. This year it just so happened to be in New
York.......but it was in Brooklyn so it was out of our mission. So
while we were leaving a basketball game one night, we were talking to
a potential investigator we had, Wheeler, and he was like, "hey, what
are you guys doing Saturday?" And we told him nothing super exciting.
And he was like, "you guys wanna go to the NBA All-Star game with me
and a buddy?" .............we just about died. He told us that, and
our hearts literally shriveled up and died. We told him about our
mission boundaries and that our p-day is only on Wednesday and so
there's no way we could go. He was like, "aw man...are you sure? Isn't
there someone you or I can talk to and we can pull some strings and
stuff to get you guys to go?" And so that night we called the APs when
we were reporting weekly numbers, and we told them about it and we all
just about cried together hahaha. They were just begging our
forgiveness and kept saying over and over again, "I hope you know how
much we want to say yes to that!!" Haha we just laughed about it and
knew there was no way President would let us. There was just too many
things on the line to go. It wasn't in our mission, it wasn't on a
p-day, and so many other things. So we forgot about it until the next
day, when Wheeler called us up and told us that he also had tickets to
a "Meet the Players" party on Saturday that WAS in our mission. Yes,
as in we would go to a party where we would get to hang out and play
games with the best basketball players in the entire
world......AHHHHHHHH,!! We freaked out and called the APs and told
them and they were like, "you know...now that it's in our mission...we
actually think President might let you do that. You could just switch
your p-day from Wednesday to Saturday for this week, maybe?! And so we
were just freaking out, but then right as we were about to call
President Morgan to talk to him about it, we get a text from Wheeler
that says, "hey guys, I hate that I have to tell you this, but the
party is actually on Sunday...not Saturday." ...........NO!!!! Oh my
word we were so sad.... our heart got ripped out and torn to shreds
TWICE!! In less than 12 hours!! We were so sad...so sad...

BUT! Heavenly Father totally made it up this week! We saw SO many
miracles!! So we actually have 4 investigators with baptismal dates,
with two that are very close!!! We could have 6 baptisms in the next
two transfers!!!! Can you believe that?!

So to start, that guy, Wheeler, and his wife became new investigators
with baptismal dates. We invited him to church last week, but he said
that he probably wouldn't be able to make it, so he was like,
"uh...could you guys like come to my house and teach me about your
church or something?" Hahaha and we were just like, "um yes.....we can
definitely do that." Haha. So we taught him and his wife about the
Restoration on Friday!! They loved it!!

Next we have Sabrina and Japhia. So Toese, our investigator that is
getting baptized after spring break, and these two super awesome
members that are going to school with him have been doing a Book of
Mormon study every night together in the hallway of their dorm. One
night, this girl, Sabrina, walked up and was like, "hey guys, what are
you doing? A bible study or something?" And they told her no that it
was a Book of Mormon study, and she asked if she could join haha! It
turned out that she absolutely loved it, so they invited her to our
lesson with Toese the following night. She ended up bringing her
friend, Japhia, as well, and so Friday night we taught her, Japhia,
and Toese...plus a bunch of member cadets the Restoration as well!!
They all loved it! So we set up and appointment to meet with them
again the following day. So we taught Japhia and Sabrina the next day
at a members home, and just talked about a ton of different things.
They are both super chatty and have TONS of questions, which is
awesome! Japhia is still a little hesitant, but Sabrina is alllllll
for it! She even talks to people at school like she is already a
Mormon haha. She even told her family that she was wanting to be
baptized!!

The Lord is preparing people like crazy for us to teach....it's
absolutely insane!! And it looks like there's even more on the way for
us! There's this super cool family that had three things to tell us on
Sunday:
1. They would love for us to come teach all of the missionary lessons
to their family
2. The mom wanted a Book of Mormon to give to a friend of hers that
teaches a bible study class that has a bunch of questions about the
church.
3. She also has another friend that has a bunch of questions about the
church, so we are going to teach her all of the missionary lessons to
answer her questions!!

And then there was just another cadet that came up to us last night
and told us that he's been talking to a friend of his, and that she's
thinking about talking the discussions as well!! Isn't that so crazy?!
The members here are absolutely incredible. They LOVE missionary work.
They are such a key to doing all of this, especially for us where we
don't have the same abilities to proselyte as most missionaries do. We
are so blessed.

So another couple of funny things that happened:

So our other investigator, Cali, actually took a trip with the
institute class this last weekend and drove to Kirtland, Ohio!! She
said that she absolutely loved it and that her favorite part was the
temple. :)

So one day we had this CRAZY snowstorm. And it was super unlucky for
us because we had just so happened to decide to go to Middletown to
get our oil changed on our car. Well, when we got out of the place,
there was a ton of snow and it was still coming down hard!! But we had
a drive alllll the way home still. A drive that usually takes us about
25-30 minutes took like an hour and 10 minutes....an hour and 10
minutes of slipping and sliding everywhere haha...it was nuts.

So I almost passed out this week. So remember how I've suddenly
developed this thing with medical needles where I pass out if I see
one? Well it started off before I left on my mission where I'd pass
out every time I got a shot or my blood drawn. Well, it's now kind of
transformed where even if I see a needle, I pass out haha. So I told
that in district meeting in just kind of a funny, nonchalant way. And
so this elder pulls a flipping Epi-pen out of his bag and is like,
"what about something like this?" And I see it and instantly know what
it is, but I don't even hardly look at it! But because I knew it was
right there I started getting really woozy and my head started getting
all tingly and you start sweating and seeing stars like I get when I
pass out......it was so bad. I'm kind of worried about what this is
turning into!! What am I supposed to do when my wife is having her
baby and they need to give her a shot or something!! Haha "sorry
honey, gotta run!" ;) oh man.....

Well, that was about my week!!! I'm just loving it here in West
Point!! Oh my gosh I totally forgot to mention that transfers are this
week!! So it turns out that Elder Neuerburg is staying!!!! Oh my word
I was SO happy and SO relieved. I'm so tired of only being with
companions for one stinkin cycle! I love Elder Neuerburg so I'm so
glad that we get to do another one together. He's going to have been
in this area for 9 months when the transfer is over, though haha
crazy!! Well, I love you are so much! Take care and have an awesome
week! :)

-Elder Stafford