Saturday, August 7, 2010

Pictured in the above photo, from left to right:
Elder Erickson, Elder Stewart, Elder Vang

                      Pictured in the above photo, from left to right:
                Elder Waltman, Elder Lo, Elder Forsyth, Elder Vang
On July 31, 2010
Last night Elder Vang pictured in top picture and Elder Forsyth, below, were planning to find out where to tract a couple of hours the next day. In response to Zone Conference training, they prayed and picked out 5 streets or so a piece, comparing their choices and discerning through the spirit where they should go.  Elder Birkel, an assistant to the president was with them, helping them find in the area:  We had the distinct impression to tract at a street called Margaret the next day.  The area proved to be too broad, so we prayed to focus on a smaller area and knocked on the first door that we knew was Hmong, explaining who we were, and that we were there to teach the gospel.  The woman who answered responded, "I'm a Christian.  My ex-husband's friend was a Mormon and taught him about a boy ordained to be a prophet.  You want to come inside?  There were three of us, so we went inside, prayed and taught her the plan of salvation.  "Do you know where we came from before this life?" We asked her.  "Yes, I know we were with God through the scriptures --- 'before I formed thee in the belly; I knew thee,'" she responded quoting several scriptures.  Hmong people are not familiar with this concept; we were surprised and excited.  She also mentioned that Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights she usually goes to a bible study class, but she felt she needed to stay home that night.  We responded that we, too, had been praying about where to contact and felt directed to her home.  "Yes," she said, "I think God made this appointment for us!"  She had a question about where those go who do not know about Christ; she had been taught by her pastor that you could only accept the gospel here on the earth.  We explained how our Heavenly Father had prepared a way for all to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, even after this life and referred her to 1 Peter 3:18-20.  She responded, "I have read this scripture over and over and you guys answered my question!"  She set an appointment next week to teach her, after identifying the spirit during our meeting by herself!!  She's amazing, and the Lord blesses us as we follow the counsel of our leaders!!

JULY 31, 2010
Pictured in the above photo, from left to right:
Elder Farnsworth, Elder Simpson, Elder Marsh, Elder Jepsen

Elder Simpson's sister recently emailed him, expressing a desire to give a Book of Mormon to one of her co-workers, who was experiencing challenges, not certain if the timing was right.  He emailed back, saying, "Now it is the time!"  Right after, she read on the HURRAH FOR ISRAEL blogsite, where she read about changes happening in the Lutheran church and that many  are upset with such changes!  Her co-worker is a Lutheran, so she put a Book of Mormon in her bag and took it to work.  Her heart started pounding, when she took it out, telling her co-worker that she had been thinking a lot about her; that she had a book she wanted her to have that brought peace into her life; they both started to cry and hugged each other.  She's hopeful she will read it and was sure the timing was right!!!  How grateful we are for the missionary efforts of our missionaries (the best in the world) and their families!
On July 30, 2010
Elder Mangham considered his bike his prized possession.  Biking home late and extra fast, he and Elder Crawford had just read in the Book of Mormon with an investigator and set a date for her baptism.  They approached a 4 way stop, with a car following closely behind and a car going through the stop in the opposite direction.  Obviously he was in danger and quickly turned left; at this point, something picked his bike up and turned him sideways and stopped him.  His bike was destroyed in the maneuver --- his back wheel was bent and wrenched from his bike. However he was alive and startled with the event.  Normally, he would have been upset at the loss of such a prized possession, but he felt at peace and patient.  Their investigator's name is also Patience.