Good Week

This week has been good and beneficial. We've been doing a lot to build the faith of the Members. I think the members kind of lose faith in the work because they feel they've tried talking to all there neighbors who've lived in the area and rubbed shoulders with the church for years, and about how small the towns are, so they've talked to missionaries a million times. In these situations I try to emphasize the following, "Yes, the population  here is about the same as my high school, but How many of those does our heavenly father want to return to him? All of them. He hasn't given up on them, neither should we." It's humorous, but true. Its easy to be discouraged, but we need to remember that.

We've seen some success though, One of our wards is really firing up the ward missionary engines, so its been good to see.

The other ward has been a little neglected so we're trying to build the relationship with the bishop, first and work with it so we can get to that point. The branch is a different story, but we still are talking with our Branch President and brewing some ideas to work effectively together. With all 3 we are moving in the right direction though, so I am pleased.

On a different note, the lady that we are reactivating came to church again yesterday. She felt content or satisfied with her life before, but once she came to church she realized what she, and her kids had been lacking for the last couple years and says, "I hope I never stop going to church again, I feel so much better"

Its awesome.

We have another guy who we started meeting with last night. His wife and kids are good active members, his son came home from his mission a month ago, and that is when he started coming to church. He has come regularly since then, and is a really good guy, so this is an exciting time for that family. He's asking questions such as "how long does somebody have to wait after baptism to go to the temple and get sealed to his family" so its on his mind. We look forward to seeing that.

We also had a family from the branch go and get sealed on saturday after a period of inactivity and reactivation. Those ordinances are what everybody needs!

This week has just been GOOD!

And it will keep getting better! Take care everyone, have a good week!

Elder Derek Partridge