TRANSFERS. 10/30/2017

 Hello everybody! This coming week is going to be a crazy one! We got transfer calls last night, and I finally know the name of my new comp. Elder Tanner Hill will be joining me in Massena on Wednesday, and Elder Davis will be heading east to Watertown. It seems pretty crazy that it's already been 12 weeks, and I'm moving on to a second comp... Pray for me, or at least Elder Hill, that he'll be able to deal with me 

     This week has been a bit odd. The last week of transfers, when one of you knows you're leaving, is always hard. We met with and taught pretty much all of the investigators I've mentioned before, and Elder Davis has said goodbye to them, taken pictures, etc. I'm hardcore preparing to take over the area, reviewing/updating the teaching records, writing the next transfer's schedule down, making sure I've got all my addresses and phone #'s down right, etc. I'm super excited, slightly nervous, and a little sad to see Elder Davis go and a new guy come, but it's going to be awesome. 

     The other odd thing about this week is the fact that I was in Malone from Tuesday morning until Thursday night. As the DL's companion, I have to leave the area to go on exchange with everyone, while he gets to stay in Massena and they get to sleep in my bed... It's fun, but it's also a hassle. And (I get the joy of doing it for at least one more transfer, as Elder Hill is taking over as DL.) Anyways, even though exchanges are a hassle, they're always full of super cool experiences. It's almost as if we're required to do exchanges because they're always productive...  The first night, I was with Elder Foulger. He's even newer than I am out here, but we had a lot of fun. We taught a lady named Ann. I may have mentioned her a few weeks back, Elder Hewitt and I found Ann when we were tracting on exchanges, and when we met her, she didn't believe in a God, she didn't think we were anywhere before we came to earth, and after we die, that's the end of it. So, she had a LOT to learn, and lot she needed to come to know. When I met with her with Elder Foulger, she now knows there is a God, and is reading the BoM, and asking a lot of awesome questions. It was super cool to be able to meet her again, and see the progress she's made in just a few short weeks. She still has a ways to go before she's ready for baptism, but she is asking the right questions and doing the right things. So that was awesome.

     The next exchange was with Elder Hill (NOT my new comp, there's 3 Hill's in this mission. As well as 6 Johnson's.) Anyways, Elder Hill is a interesting fella... But he's a good kid and a hard worker. However, the whole working hard and working smart thing is a lesson that could be well taught to Elder Hill and Elder Little. EVERY appointment they had set up, they had either forgotten to confirm, forgotten to write the address, or forgotten the name, or all 3 of those things. Sooooo it was an interesting exchange in that aspect... But that night, as we were tracting, we had an AWESOME teaching experience. Right after we knocked on a door that was awfully rude and obnoxious, we saw a lady sitting in an open garage, smoking. I started walking over and said hello. She said hi, but then said she was a Roman Catholic and wasn't interested in changing. However, I was sick of people saying that, so I kept right on walking towards her and introduced myself as a Mormon Missionary, and started asking about her Church, and asked if she had ever seen a BoM. At this point, Elder Hill has noticed that I didn't take the first no for an answer, and he caught up. Anyways, this lady, Sherrie, and I talked for about 5 minutes about her Church, then I offered her a BoM. She took it and then handed it back to me. I told her that she could keep it, and then, despite her telling us she wasn't interested and wasn't going to change, I taught the full Restoration, and introduced the BoM and insisted she keep it. She was all ears as I taught, and genuinely cared, and by the end of it she accepted the book and cried and gave me a hug (I know that's not supposed to happen but she was 60 and I didn't see it coming) and said "this is the greatest gift anyone's given me." She then talked about how she hadn't been to church in a long time, because she didn't like how corrupt it had gotten, she also mentioned she didn't have a good translation of the bible. So we ran to the car and got her a copy, and then she asked for another copy of the BoM so one of her friends could read with her. LONG STORY SHORT (not really, this is gonna be a long email) She originally said no and waved us away, but the evening ended with almost an hour of teaching, a teary thank you, and 2 BoM's and a KJV Bible placed. So that was stinkin awesome. 

     After exchanges, I finally made it back to Massena, where we had a fully scheduled weekend. The two coolest stories from which are Aja's and Darlene's. Darlene is the lady I've talked about before, who works at Salvation Army. We're good friends with her, and she's had missionaries working with her at SA  for over a year, but has never really accepted lessons. That is, until Davis and Lindberg came to town. She has been taught the Restoration and Plan of Salvation, and has been invited to begin reading. She and her husband Rod, invited Elder Davis and I to dinner, and they fed us and we taught Rod the Restoration. They were so intrigued in fact, that after dinner on Saturday, they invited us to their house on Sunday evening to learn and talk more. When we got there, Rod showed us his Harley and let me sit on it and rev it a little bit, then we went inside, they gave us food, sat us down, and started asking a million good questions. They're both very impressed at our standards (Rod can hardly believe I've never even held an open can of beer, much less taken a drink. He wishes the whole world had our standards and rules.) Anyways, both Rod and Darlene are very interested, to the point the Rod was asking about moving to Utah, if there would be any jobs, and if it was ok for Mormons to miss church once in a while to go camping. So that's awesome. Aja is another cool story. She and her mom work at Via Main (our favorite restaurant) , and have seen and talked to the missionaries DD has taken there for more than a year. But they've never been very interested in being taught. Until Elder Davis and I. We talked to them a lot at Via Main, and became pretty good friends. And finally, this past Wednesday, Aja asked how our Church started. So, we set up an appointment, and have now taught the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, and she's read and prayed, and is interested in being baptized eventually. So, the point I want you all to take away from those stories, is that gaining the trust and creating a friendship with people, is probably the BEST way to have successful teaching. When they trust you and know you, they ask more sincere questions, and they don't run into Anti material, because they ask you questions before they ask Google. So, remember that y'all.

     That's about all the fun stories I've got this week. It's been a great week, but I think a few prayers would be nice this next week, as I adjust to a new comp and take over the area.

     OH WAIT, one final piece of exciting news. I bought a bowling ball. Found it at Salvation Army. It's like brand new, the only weird thing about it is that it has "DAVE" engraved on it. Idk if that's the ball's name, or the guy who used to own it. Either way, I bought a bowling ball named Dave for 50 cents, and I'll be testing him out today. So that's awesome. 

     LOVE YOU ALL. THANKS FOR THE SUPPORT AND PRETENDING TO READ THESE LONG EMAILS. TALK TO YA NEXT WEEK.

I sold the mission Ferrari I sent pics of a while ago, and I've now invested your tithing money in motorcycles for us. You're welcome. 

(this is a joke)

Here's a pic from our District Meeting on Wednesday. Please ignore the fact that I am not wearing actual suit pants, and the fact that I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt under my suitcoat. I was on exchanges and hadn't been to my apartment since Monday, and didn't take a suit to Malone because I figured I'd be back to Massena to restock. I was wrong.