A super awesome busy week

Square screws

Outside the Sister Missionary's Apartment

After my Haircut

Rogers Macaw

Outside Sisters Apartment with Elder Giatris

Week 31 5-21-19
     This past  week has been really fun and we have seen some awesome miracles. On Monday we got haircuts by Brother Kim he's a member and our ward and he has his own Barbershop. It's old-fashioned and super cool to look around inside. After we got our haircuts from Brother Kim we went over to Men's Warehouse so I could get a brand new suit I have to get a new one because I've gained weight since I've been on my mission roughly about 20 lb. We then went to go talk to the office missionaries and we hung out there for a little bit it's pretty fun to see them and help them out a little bit as we were there. We then went to Morse Tavern for dinner with Elder and Sister Wilde some of the office missionaries. They have some good burgers! After dinner at Moore's Tavern we came back to the office to help Sister Wilde pack up supplies for Zone Conference the next day. We went back to Men's Warehouse to see if I can get a cheaper suit because I ended up spending too much for on the mission. It was too much of a hassle to call the truck back so the manager was able to give me a generous discount to help me out.
     Tuesday, Today was Zone Conference and before we left the apartment we could not find the keys anywhere. We called Elder Meyer and Elder Woods for a ride and we ended up finding them right after, so we are able to get to Zone Conference on time. Elder Bennett the Area 70 for our mission was the one who gave the lesson. He first asked the question about what has changed since we've all been on a mission; one thing that has changed is distractions have been removed. Board games, card games, less time to be with other missionaries, and even weights.  All of this is to help us be more focused on our missionary purpose. After we talked about the lessen of distractions we talked about how the more people we are teaching can get to church, the better they can feel the spirit and the closer they are to baptism. One thing I really liked is we split up into our companionship and talked about the spiritual gifts that we have and how we have grown from our companion’s spiritual gifts. After we came back, a member from Cambridge and talked about the importance of building trust and member relationships. They are the biggest push and help for missionaries for new people to teach. We had two dinners the first was with the Macklanes, they have 4 crazy kids but we had lots of fun. Our second dinner was with the Rogers, this time we had a really cool experience with the two exchange students. We had a really cool lesson on part of the Plan of Salvation. We talked a lot about spirits and what happens after death. They definitely had a lot of good questions, and we answered the best we could to what we knew.
Wednesday was a pretty mellow day but we had lots of stuff planned, first thing we had was studies. I am starting on prayer, revelation and miracles while reading from the Book of Mormon. I am super excited for this read! After studies we helped a lady who used to live in the ward clean out her parents home so it can be sold. We helped take out a shelf and it had three-square screws in it. They were definitely made to keep it in tight. We then came home to change out of service clothes and head to a lesson with Sister Charline Jesus. I brought in my Wooden Plan of Salvation puzzle for a visual. She really liked it and she has a strong desire to be in the Celestial Kingdom. After our lesson with her we went to go meet Andy and have a lesson with her, she has a lot of questions. We are in a slump with her. She has a desire to learn but not act in Faith to progress. We hope the best but we can only do so much. The lesson went well, but it’s hard because she only wants us to use the Bible, because that is how she was raised. We plan on meeting her this week for another lesson, hopefully by then we will know what to do. We then left to dinner and on the way we got lost and couldn't find it. Luckily we found the right place. We had dinner with the Buchmans and they always take us out, this is also why I’m gaining weight. I ordered sirloin tips, and they were sooooo good! To end the night we had a first lesson with a man named Anthony. He has talked to missionaries in the past and is interested in learning more. He has a beautiful story on how he came to know God for the first time in his life. He has a strong Faith in Christ and it is amazing. Almost all of his questions were about if what he knew was true or not from what he has been told. He really like what we taught and he wants us to come back for another lesson. We invited him to read from the Book of Mormon and Pray for himself to know if its true and not take our word for it. He said he was already planning on it, It was so cool to hear him say that. He actually gave the closing prayer and said it right there, it was so spiritually uplifting to hear him act in faith!
    Thursday was probably the longest day this week. We had a big move, with six stops. Just in driving it was around 7-8 hours. We did a lot of picking up extra or broken items, then a few dropping off new items. It turns out Sisters truly do get better apartments then the Elders, well for the most part. It was a really fun day though. I needed the practice so I was the one driving the truck and trailer the whole day. The hardest part was backing up into the apartments when we stopped in Hartford Connecticut. Backing up with a trailer is harder than I thought. Our last stop was the sisters in Trumbal Connecticut. It is the furthest southwest area in the mission, and is on the boarder of New York state. Traffic coming back to Weston to drop off the trailer wasn’t to bad but after we dropped it off it was horrible.  We had a Book of Mormon study and dinner at the Rogers home after we finished the move. They are always so welcoming for us missionaries. To end the night we went for a lesson with Sister Robinson but she had to leave before we got there. We decided to stop by to check in on Rob and Rose, and it was at the perfect time, we helped Rob unpack his car and it really helped him save time and energy.
     Friday I hit my 7month mark, its still so crazy that this time has flown by so quick. We had no time yesterday so this morning before District Council we had to go unload the trailer so we could get it ready for the next few moves. After, we had our District Council for the week and the lesson was on the importance of leaving commitments, promising blessings and then following up. We can tell that someone who does keep commitments is someone who is acting on faith and truly wants to know for themselves if this is the true Church of Jesus Christ. After we had a couple lessons through out the day, my personal favorite was with a lady named Clauzi. The day before we got a call from a lady named Clauzi and she told us that her husband met with the mission earlier that day. The lady said she was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints she even had a name tag and her name was Sister Victoria but she was by herself. We know it couldn’t have been a missionary because she was by herself, Clauzi believes it was an angel. Every time missionaries have talked to her in the past bad stuff has happened to her, "bad with a capital B". This time she wanted to finally sit down and talk with us. She knows all the rules and we didn’t know why. As we sat down with her we found out she has been a member for around 20 years! She has been less active for about 5. It was super cool to hear her story and about her life. We ended up sending the Portuguese-speaking missionaries over to her because she is a member in the Portuguese branch. We were just so happy to help her in returning to the gospel. She even said she feels great sadness when she misses church. We let her know that we would love to see her this Sunday, and she is super excited to be there! That was an awesome end to the night.
     Saturday was a great day for proselyting, we had a couple a good lessons today and we did a lot of stop bys for people with interest. We had a great lesson with Evans on obedience and following promptings from God. We came home and made a chicken alfredo and it was the first home cooked dinner this transfer. After dinner we did some more tracting around our area and met Ada, she has interest and we even sat down to have a lesson on the restoration, it was super cool and we plan on coming back within the next week!
     Sunday, we left for church early so we could be at a Ward Missionary Correlation. We got a lot talked about to help out our friends we are teaching and even our ward mission plan. We have a lot planned to help get the ward more involved! At church we saw Tacia there, she is one of the ladies we are teaching and it was her first time attending! She really liked it and is looking forward to returning! Not only was she there so was Clauzi, and the talks were great for both of them to hear. The first talk was the importance of personal reverence to remember our Savior during church to be more focused on what the spirit wants you to know. The second talk was on obedience, but more on the importance of church attendance, and how it can bring blessings. Even our Sunday School lesson was super helpful for our friends that came today! The lesson was on the prodigal son. No matter how far we may feel we have strayed the Lord will always welcome us back with open arms, and full of love. Both Tacia and Clauzi loved it. Clauzi even went to the Portuguese branch as well. We had an early dinner with the Escobars and we had Rapas (maybe spelled wrong I am sorry). They were super good, later on we did some more tracting and even set up a few appointments for the upcoming week! While walking around we met a man named Derrick who recognized us (from the church) it turns out when he was younger he was an active member, he even invited us to visit him and his grandma later on in the week. We had a really good week and had lots of fun!
 
                      1 Nephi 11:22
 
   "22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men; wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things"

     Christ is ever so loving, he even gave his life for each and everyone of us. He was crucified and suffered the pains and afflictions for everyone individually. As we strive to be faithful to him we can have a strong bond to Him and feel the love he has for us. As we are obedient we can have that love for ourselves and it will show so others can feel it as well!. Christ’s love will never fade. It will only continue to grow. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ,  Amen.