May 10th, 2017

   This week we got transfers info.... and I'm still with Elder Aguiar in Burgess Hill!! See that I will only have one transfer after this one it's more likely then not that me and Elder Aguiar are going to be together until the day that I die! This is definitely a major prayer answered as I know he is going to help me finish strong. He is such a good friend and so easy to work with. He is so eager to go out and work so it is always easy and fun when we are out and about in the Lord's errand. Sad new though. Elder Pongbundit is getting moved... the area he is in is getting closed so he is going to another zone. He was only here for one short transfer but I am so glad I got to be with him.

   Alright, where to begin... this week has been full of a ton of fun stuff! Last Thursday we got to run a Young Men's activity, and we ran a mission prep activity to help them get ready for when they go on missions!  It was quite funny. We made them iron our shirts (we had to re-iron them..) and eat strange foods and answer doctrinal questions and stuff. At the end we had a Q&A session where we were able to tell funny stories and bear testimony about why we are on missions.

   Elder Aguiar used to own a little land scaling business before his mission and this old couple in the ward found out and they had us redo their whole garden. It was pretty funny because they treated Elder Aguiar like a pro and he kept telling them he didn't know too much. They bought £100 worth of plants for him to plant. I had no clue what they were talking about but it was good to learn how to plant things. I've learned a ton of random things on my mission.

   More on a spiritual note, this week I have LOVED how much God prepares us for the things he wants us to learn!! Elder Aguiar and I have been working so hard the last few weeks, but we've been feeling like things haven't been clicking. We had a couple really cool experiences over a few days, and then one day as we sat and talked about it, we recognized that even though we were working hard, there was more we could do to be working smart! We have been praying about it and working on it a ton, and now we feel like our efforts are more effective and we are using our time in a better way. It's amazing how much God wants to teach us and wants us to learn. Sometimes it just takes stopping for a sec to re-evaluate where you are at and where you want to be. It can be so helpful to take some time to get on your knees and ask God how He sees you and your efforts. You will find more satisfaction and feelings of accomplishment, it will help us see how far we have come but also see what we can do to change and improve.

   The area is doing really well! Our progressing investigators are slowing down a bit though. One lady, Susannah, just doesn't seem to get a spiritual answer, but we are working with her on helping her let go of some fixed ideas she has. We've pushed her baptismal date back several times just because she's not ready yet. Chris and Freya seem to still be reading and studying but this week they've been dodging us a bit!! So that's always rough. That usually means they've found some anti or something, and it breaks our heart but I know they've felt something different about our message so we are working with them. Our little Indian family is reading the Book of Mormon in Hindi :) we are going to better gauge their interest later this week and we will see if we can get them to church! We are also working with Alex, who's parents are split and mom is a Less Active. Him and his mom are amazing people!! And he wants to be baptized!! The issue is getting Dads permission... we keep working with them. and then finally this less active just had a baby with Ryan, who is starting to have lots of spiritual experiences. We are working on getting them married so he can be baptized and they can get sealed!

2x comps and current comp all in the same zone  

This is Elder Pongbundit's life... haha