Monday, November 19, 2012

Letter #9 11/19/12 Improvement and Progression

Alright, so this week has been pretty amazing. We had a lot of member lessons, a lot of lessons in general, and some new investigators that we taught.
First off, this week I've been missing snow. But it's only fall here. The leaves are in the middle of changing, and boy is it a sight!! They're so pretty!! Single trees are red, orange, AND yellow. It's very pretty :) I'll try to send a picture. Anyway, one day, it was a little bit cold, and I had been missing snow because I"ve been hearing about snow back home. One day we get out of the car, and it's snowing!!! But not really. I just thought it was. The cotton plants are bloomig or something and there were a TON of those dandelion floaters around, so it completely looked like snow!! But it wasn't... So it was a little bit depressing. Haha I thought it was funny though, I was so excited!! Then I felt pretty dumb. Oh well :)
We met with a lot of investigators, and many are progressing. We had to drop the baptismal date with L because she didn't make it to Sacrament Meeting, but we saw her this morning, and we're going to see her Wednesday, so hopefully we can get on track. The highlight of this week might have been last night though. We met with D. He's about 40 or so, and he's married to a member in our Branch. D has been meeting with the missionaries for like 5 years now, and he just hasn't had a witness of the truth so he hasn't been baptized. What's funny though is he has a calling. He's the Cub Scout leader with his wife. He comes to church every Sunday. He's practically Mormon, but won't get baptized. Anyway, we finally taught him last night. We haven't been able to meet with him since I've been here, so it was the first time we taught him. Last night we were reteaching him the restoration, and we were talking about receiving answers and we were sort of evaluating how he was doing, and if he was working for an answer, and if he even had a desire to receive one. He said that he felt like he was in a boat, and he was rowing toward an island, and the island wasn't getting any closer and that sometimes he just needs to take a break. WELL. For some reason I felt like sharing the experience I had of kayaking the Napali Coast with Dad and Kaiti. I talked about how when we started, the tour guides told us that lunch was around the cliff on the horizon, and that it was about 9 miles away. I talked about how when we first started, we didn't quite know how to work the kayak, especially in a partnership. I told him how as we kayaked that it seemed like the cliff never got any closer. BUT I also talked about how there were two people in the kayak. That after the first mile we could work in combination and we started to figure it out. I talked about how the end never really got closer, but we could look back and see how far we've come. I talked about how I got really hungry before lunch, but it wouldn't work to stop. I had to push harder to make it to the lunch spot. I talked about how I would take breaks every once in a while because I got tired or sore, but when I did that, all the weight was on Dad, and we stopped going forward. I found out that when I worked through the tiredness, I sort of went numb or whatever and I could just keep going. Anyway, It completely corrolated to his situation. We asked him to look back and see how far he's come. And that made him think. Then I asked him about the cliff. I asked if he was hungry. He said "I'm starving!" to which I said, "Row faster!!"  :) :) Good stuff!! His wife was also with us, and she was sort of prodding him. She was talking about getting sealed in the temple and everything. You can tell she really wants him to join so they can seal their family... So she was an excellent addition :) By the end of the night we set a baptismal date with him for the 30th or 29th of December. I can't remember which is Saturday, but basically the end of the year. We're seeing them again on Saturday, which is a ways off but they honestly couldn't meet with us any sooner so we'll have to make do. Anyway, the lesson last night was pretty great :)
Funny side story on last night.... They have a girl about 4 named A. She's a little bossy, and it seems like her favorite phrase is "I'm the boss!!" It's really funny. This is my first time in their home, but Sister  said that A whispered in her ear and said "I like the new missionary's laugh!" Which is huge. She doesn't give compliments apparently :) I thought that was funny. A few minutes later, Elder Adams asked her if she like him, and she said "NO!!" So then I asked her if she liked me, and she looked at her mom, and whispered in her ear, and Sister  said "Yep! She likes you!!" Again, pretty funny. After that, Sister  asked her who her favorite person in the world is. Her mom said, "Is it me? Is it Big D (meaning Brother )?)" Then A whispered in her ear. Then Sister  was like, "Oh no, honey!! He can't be your favorite person. You just met him!!!" Bahaha I met this four year old last night and I'm already her favorite person. I thought it was hilarious :D
For the spiritual thought I'll challenge everyone to read their scriptures this week. We had a really good talk yesterday about that, and I want to challenge everyone reading to read for 5 minutes everyday this week!! Just 5 minutes. Not 5 pages, not 5 verses, not 5 chapters. 5 Minutes. You can spare the time, promise!! :) Let me know any neat stories you have if it helps!!
Well, time is running out. I'm not sure what else to say, but this week has been really great :) Mail has been a little backed up lately, so hopefully I get that package soon!! I'm looking forward to it :)
I love you all!! And miss you. It sounds like you're doing well though!! I'm completely jealous about Thanksgiving!! That was a fun holiday with the family :) It sounds like things are going well though, which makes me happy :)
Until next week, HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!!
Love Elder Kameron Kilbourne

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