Let's start with Tuesday night. We hadn't heard form Nina in a long time so we were starting to worry about her and then we got a text from Bro. Featherstone (One of her best friends in the church) saying that she wanted a blessing for the hard times she was going through. We were pretty stoked and ran over there around 8:30 that night. We got there and we had a little lesson and Elder Fry offered to voice the blessing. It was a great one and the power in the words resonated throughout the house. She got up and said she felt better already and later told us she slept better that night than she had in years and that a darkness seemed to be gone from her life.
The next day we met with Pat X., an elderly woman who was investigating the church a while ago but then her life got really hectic and she asked we resume the lessons later. When we met with her I didn't really know what to expect but it was a great visit. She is really loving the gospel and always asks us for "homework" to do. She has an interesting concern though. She believes that God is this metaphysical force in the world and doesn't have a body, that he only appeared that way because Joseph wouldn't be able to comprehend him any other way. It's a bit bazaar but she's a great lady.
That night we had dinner with the Sizemores and man oh man was it good. Diece made this awesome roast and we had a great time. The only problem was they wouldn't quit talking, haha. They talked about this and that for nigh on two hours! We kept trying to cut in to tell them we really needed to go but we just got steamrolled by them. It was pretty funny because at one point we went an entire 45 mins without saying anything and they just kept on going. It was a bit frustrating but it was pretty funny as well.
Halloween was interesting because we had to be in at 6. We got bored pretty quickly and ended up going to bed at 9:30 (with leadership permission of course) and that felt amazing.
The next day I went on splits with Elder Kpainy again so that his companion (whose name I can't even attempt to spell) could try and help with Diana a bit. We split after district meeting and me and Elder Kpainy took off for some dinner at El Pollo Inka with some sisters and a part-member family that they are teaching. The man was paying and insisted we eat absolutely everything on the menu that we could shove in our faces. We had a great meal and I ate a heart of a chicken (not very good really) which was really cool. It was a really good night and then we switched back and we had another lesson with Nina where we read about Alma the younger and his repentance. It was a good lesson and we invited her to baptism the next day.
Speaking of that baptism it wasn't just for one but for 4 kids! That was pretty awesome but unfortunately Nina and her kids couldn't make it that time but we went and visited again. I wrote up a basic thing on music theory for her and we met her daughter Ariana. She's 21 and is pretty anti-religion for unknown reasons but she's a good person and fun to talk with. Her and Nina have this big deal about "Konga water". Apparently it's this super water (and by that I mean the filter alone is $135 not to mention the machine) that is apparently the only thing that can truly hydrate you and people say it's cured their [insert any disease imaginable, including cancer]. I'm very skeptical but it's WAY better than the sludge they drink here. I use the water bottle they gave us in the MTC to filter water in Brazil to drink here. It really is that bad.
We also met Tommy, her son that is an MMA fighter, yesterday. We had a big dinner/get together at the Featherstone's home and he came as well as the Elder's quorum president and his wife. He seems like a really cool guy and he's super intense. We pretty much sat around getting to know him before he had to go to yet another training session that night. I shared a thought on Alma 37:36-37 and he payed very close attention. He seems interested in us but not necessarily the gospel, but I think the door is open there.
Well I guess I'll share that thought because it's a pretty good one I think. In the reference above you'll find one of my favorite scriptures. It's one of the letters Alma wrote to his sons and says this:
36 Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever.
37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.
That's a really powerful promise and I feel that we often don't use it enough. It says "Council with the Lord in ALL thy doings". Not some of, them all of them. I really hope that we can all apply this a bit more in our lives, especially my own since I am on his errand.
Well I hope everyone is doing well in the big bad world out there. I'll write you all again next week!
-Um no exercito de Deus
Elder Teela
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