November 9, 2015
Friends and family!
Last Tuesday, I had my first exchange. I stayed with Elder Mendoza up in Omak, and It went pretty well. Except for the fact that Elder Coy didn't tell me to bring sheets. That Monday night I slept on a bed with no sheets or pillow, so I unzipped the liner out of my jacket to use as a blanket that would cover both halves of my body in their frigid apartment, McGyver style. It was great. The next day, it was on the schedule to help a family move out of their house. Since Elder Coy didn't tell me I needed service clothes, either, I was trying to avoid scratching up my church shoes too badly. The family did pay us in giant burgers from a restaurant in town, though, so that was great too. But when we finally got out tracting and teaching, I learned a lot from Elder Mendoza. He talked to everyone he saw and always made sure he left them with some spiritual message or card. We even got a few potential investigators! To bad I won't be in Omak to follow up with them.
The next day, Wednesday, we saw somewhat of a miracle happen. Elder Coy and I were at Safeway so that we could meet with a guy that works there, Mike, and set up an appointment. I left to go to the bathroom, and when I came out, Elder Coy told me that a lady went to Mike's register to buy a huge bottle of Spiced Gin, and that he had said a silent prayer for her to drop it on her way out. On our way back out, guess what we saw in front of the car? A bunch of glass shards and a stream of Spiced Gin running down the pavement. God is awesome.
Thursday was spent tracting in the town that I live in, Coulee Dam. It went very well! We always count the the number of quality gospel conversations that we have (or OYM's for Open Your Mouth) each day with the goal of at least 10 per day, and we had 7 before lunch. The people were home and willing to talk! Unfortunately, they were all happy with their religion, have already been "churched", etc. But at least we are sowing seeds! One family did seem interested, though, and we gave them a Book of Mormon and they invited us back for a day this week. I love it when people except us, especially when they have kids, because I know that the gospel can make their lives so much better! We also tracted in Wilbur and contacted 2 more families that invited us back! I really hope that these families progress, because the hard part of the mission field isn't knowing what to teach, it's finding people to teach.
Friday was interesting. We went to Electric City to visit some inactive members, the Fields, and invite them back to church. They were probably in their 80's. Apparently, the wife hasn't been active for 60 years. Wow. But they were very kind and invited us in to talk to them. They weren't interested in coming back, but Brother Fields, in the middle of the conversation, asked us, "Do you believe in Sasquatches?" To which Elder Coy said that he had actually felt a Sasquatch pelt at a guys house in Naches, and that the man that owned it had shot it himself. Brother Fields continued to talk about all of the times that he had seen Sasquatches when he worked in Alaska, with sister fields confirming that she had seen them too. Pretty weird, right? It got weirder. He then told us about all of the space ships that he had seen in his life right there in Washington, and even showed us some diagrams of a spaceship and different species of aliens that a friend of his who was abducted drew for him. When we finally got out of their, Elder Coy and I looked at each other thinking, "what just happened?"
We ended the day with a visit to V's house, an investigator that is a lot like Jynx from the District videos. As soon as we walked through the door, she said that she wanted us to know that she wouldn't join the church, but that we were welcome to visit any day of the week. I was kind of bummed, but she is still reading the Book of Mormon, and she changes her mind every week... so I guess we just have to give her time.
On Saturday, we visited the "Undunkables", an older couple living in a trailer by the Columbia River. They have been talking to missionaries from all different religions for decades, but have still not made up their mind. We decided to talk about the holy ghost this time, and for the first time, they seemed genuinely interested. Even Hubert, the man who looks for every opportunity to change the subject to politics, participated and even testified about the Book of Mormon. Who knows, maybe they will be the next to be baptized.
Yesterday, we had interviews with President Lewis, and he told me that after talking to some of the members in the ward, they would have thought that I have been out for 6 months. Little do they know, I'm just faking it until I make it. But genuinely :) President and Sister Lewis are awesome. They are the nicest people, and they are starting to feel like family.
One last thing: Elder coy and I listened to a talk by Bill Carpenter about his conversion story. See if you can find it on Youtube and listen to it. It is amazing!
Until next week!
Elder Moser
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| Coulee Dam Chapel. |
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| Outside our apartment. |
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| See our warming blankets. |
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| My study area. |
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