So it feels like I was just emailing to you. Time keeps picking up out here, and it's hard to believe that it's already Monday again. I'm glad things are going well back home though! Haha I'm pretty excited about the addition to the family farm: Blizzard. Hopefully it goes better then our geese idea. Also, thanks for the pictures! I love seeing everybody.
We had a good week here in Seminole. We had a lesson wit
h Mike, the guy who called us last week and attended a session of conference. He's probably in his 60's and is a HUGE Glen Beck fan. Haha that's how he heard about the church and decided to look us up. He's from Texas, so he has the accent, and has the tough cowboy exterior to him. We had our lesson over at the church, and so we gave him a quick tour of it. He was impressed, and when we sat down to have the lesson he asked some pretty straightforward questions. He wanted to know about tithing, the "rules" that our church follows, and how he could become a member of our church. Haha it was pretty awesome. It was definitely one of the more disorganized lessons that I've ever been apart of, but you could still feel the Spirit. I think the order went something like this: Tithing, Word of Wisdom, Restoration of the Gospel, Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, etc. We jumped around a lot in order to answer his questions, but he wa
s really sincere in what he was asking. When we taught about the Book of Mormon he really soaked it in. He promised that he would take Moroni's challenge to heart and read and pray about it. One of the ward members, Brother Beckman, was there for the lesson and did a great job of befriending him. Mike came to church on Sunday, and immediately Bro. Beckman came and grabbed him and had him sit next to his family. There were some really awkward experiences though....ha I've never been so sensitive about what people say in my entire life. When we went into gospel principles and Mike introduced himself, our ward mission leader says "Oh, Mike! We were talking about you this morning in our meetings before church. Glad you're here!". He definitely meant well, but Mike was a little thrown off. Ha but overall it was good. We set up another time to meet with him this week, and we'll let you know how it goes.
We had a hard time making contact with many of our other investigators this week though. Paige was really busy with work and school, but we got to talk to her at church. It feels like we're entering "now or never" mode with her. The member family that she's living with is having their son move back in next month, which means Paige is going to have to move out. It's a really big bummer, and we're hoping that she is able to take the step of baptism before then. Having the gift of the Holy Ghost will benefit her life more then she knows right now. She's facing a lot of life decisions right now and it's really hard on her. It's crazy for me to imagine doing that without the support system of my family and the gospel. We're praying hard for her, and know that the Lord has a plan and it will all work out in His time. Tony has totally dropped out of contact. We've called and left notes at his house, but we haven't heard anything back yet. Polly is kind of a work in process. She feels the Spirit and recognizes it at church meetings and when we talk about the gospel, but she isn't taking any steps to progress yet. We'll keep working with her though.
We had a pretty funny experience yesterday though...we were out visiting some less active members of the ward, and stopped by a lady's home. She was there and we ended up talking for about an hour. It was a good visit and she was glad we had stopped by. When we were walking back out to out car, I noticed something white and curly in our back window...haha I look closer and see that a little white dog was hanging out in our car. Haha were laughing really hard about it, and neither of us see how it could have climbed in. I never even saw it when we pulled up, but I guess he snuck right in. I'll attach some pictures of it ha.
Well I hope you all have a great week!
Love you all,
Elder Kade Bartschi
The first picture is of a frog that we found one night as we got back to our complex. Elder Moffet was trying to catch it, and it ended up jumping on me and climbed up my pants haha
This is our stowaway dog :)
Oh and the "light saber" picture is for Braydn. Ha she always wants me to do the "cool missionary pictures".
President’s Letter
Dear Sisters and Elders,
I have had some remarkable experiences in interviews this past week. The testimonies you shared were filled with Spirit and Power. I loved hearin
g about your experiences in reading Preach My Gospel. Thank you for your diligence in carrying out this assignment. Those of you who were obedient in completing this reading will be blessed with the fulfilling of the promises found therein.
The Doctrine and Covenants emphasizes that the first assignment from the Lord to Joseph Smith was the translation of the Book of Mormon. All other work he was to accomplish was dependant on his fulfilling this assignment. D&C 5:4
After losing the 116 pages of manuscript, Joseph’s power to translate was taken away for a small season. When that power was restored, Joseph began the translation once again starting on April 7th and finishing the translation on June 30th. Joseph felt an urgency to complete this assignment for the Lord. As a mission, we are reading the Book of Mormon within this time frame, underlining the REquirements in red and the BLessings in blue. These are the promises within the Book of Mormon. As you are obedient to this assignment, you will witness that God is a God of promises and that they apply to us. There will be many that will touch your hearts individually, for your investigators, your ward members and for your families. You will feel the power of this ‘book of books’, the ‘most correct book on the earth today’. It will change your life as you ponder, pray and ask with real intent about how these promises work in your life. This reading will help clarify the Gospel of Jesus Christ and lessen the confusion and dissension about what is true. It will instruct us in what we need to know, and how to use these scriptures to build up the church.
As you read the Book of Mormon at this time, try to feel the increased strength Joseph felt on a daily basis with each word of translation. I pray that it will once again strengthen and solidify your testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, another testament of Jesus Christ, and strengthen your resolve to open your mouth and share this message with those you come in contact with as you work effectively all day every day. Remember This to remember Him. Feel Joseph’s urgency!
Have a great week of finding and teaching. May you feel of God’s joy. I love you and believe in you. I really do!
Love,
President Summerhays
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