Happy Birthday Braydn!

Wow, it's already the last day of February and Braydy is turning 15. It's crazy how time flies like that. Well the snow and the cold will be melting off pretty soon there and the humidity and heat is thinking of cranking back up here. It's already back up into the 80's. Ha but I'm not complaining: that will happen in July and August.

We had a good week here in Seminole. Our investigator pool is a bit on the shallow side, but there's a lot of less active members that we've been working with and we also had a few lessons with Paige this week. On Monday we went to a little group FHE that the Johnson family in the ward does. Sis. Typner was a less active member for a long time until her brother that lives with her got interested in the church. Elder Moffett and Gallagher taught and baptized him; consequently, Patty has decided that she wants to get back into church as well. Anyways, she went to the FHE and Sis. Johnson did a great job at preparing the lesson. The spirit was really strong and she taught about "Becoming"--the constant process that we're going through to become what we're meant to be. Pretty awesome.

Some other less active families that we met up with are the Jordans, an older retired couple from Illinois, and the Sennetts. Some of my favorite things to listen to are conversion stories. A lot of the members in the Seminole ward, or actually most of Florida in general, weren't raised in the church. Also, when people talk about their conversion story they automatically feel the spirit. I love the scripture in D&C 6:22-23, because it reminds all of us to reflect on that witness that the church is true.

Our lessons with Paige went really well this week. She is really genuine, and has told us that she'd like to get baptized, but there's some family issues that we dont' know about. She lives with the Klemm family, who are really strong members. Well Paige told us this last week that she'll be going up to Massachusetts this week to visit her family and hopefully resolve some things. We're really praying that they are receptive to the idea of her joining the church. She'll get back next Sunday, so we'll meet with her a few more times before she leaves. Last time we went over we discussed Alma 7 and the power of the Atonement. She's doing her best to repent and become ready to get baptized and I'm excited for her.

Well Elder Larson and I got some great news early last week. Frank Jones has decided to get baptized! While I was in Citrus Ridge, Elder Larson and I were able to teach him the first 3 lessons, so we both jumped at the chance to get back over to the middle of the state for the baptism We were able to find a member of the ward to take us, so E. Larson came down from Palm Harbor and we took off on Saturday afternoon. It was about an hour and I half drive, so not bad at all. Not many members showed up, but a bunch of missionaries in that area came over for it, so it was pretty fun. The spirit was really strong during the service, and it was awesome to be apart of. Elder Larson baptized him, and I got to be a witness for it. During some of the last talks they told Frank, "You're now the cleanest person in the room", and that was incredible to hear. This step he's taken will change the rest of his life.

Well I love you all so much! Have an awesome week, and have a great birthday Braydn!

Love you guys,

Elder Kade Bartschi