Area: Fred Branch (Silsbee, Texas)
Zone: Beaumont
Companion: Elder Souza
I love being a missionary! Life is so great! Fred is so celestial!
We have several people we're working with right now. Michael will be getting baptized on September 24! We're so excited for him. Out of all the other investigators, the ones who are making the most progress are Jamie and Donielle. Donielle has been coming to church for quite a few weeks with friends, but she's still working on understanding the spiritual significance of it all. Jamie knows it's true, but is struggling coming to church. They're both going to get baptized within a few months as well.
Elder Souza is great! I love him.
Quick Story: Elder Souza and I were driving down this county road and there was a couple on the side of the road looking up into the trees. We rolled down our window and stopped. The conversation goes as follows:
Elder Souza: "Do you need any help?"
Man: "No, we're good." (after he said that I noticed he was holding a rifle kinda behind his back)
Elder Souza: "Did your pet get stuck in the tree?" (I thought, "why would they shoot their pet with a rifle to get it out of the tree...?")
Man; "No, haha. Just shooting squirrels."as he pulls the rifle out in front of him)
We all laugh.
Me: "Alright. Have y'all ever seen missionaries like us before?"
Man: "Maybe. I don't go to church though."
Me: "Do you want to go to church?"
Man: "Nah, I'm not ready for that yet."
Me: "Sure you are. But anyway, our purpose as missionaries is to prepare people to get baptized. We have messages to share to help us do this. If you came to know our message is true would you be baptized by someone holding Christ's authority?"
Man: "I don't know... You can come back Tuesday though."
Again, Fred is great! The people here remind me of Apple Hill! The Branch Mission Leader is amazing! He has so much faith in this area!
I love my mission.
I love y'all. But I love Jesus Christ more. And this is where He wants me. So this is where I want to be.