Andover week 14

So Brother G. is super legit. During a lesson this week we were talking about baptism and he said, "I can feel the water already!" Oh man. I love him. We are close to resolving the legal issues around his marriage. We pray the Lord will provide a way. His girlfriend is amazed at the changes in Brother G. She does not like us very much, well, she is nice to us but looked up a bunch of anti and wont talk to us about it. She told a member on the phone this week that she is amazed at how much calmer and easier to deal with Brother G. is. She raved about how much he has changed for the better! The Spirit is so powerful in its refining effects.

We had a ROUGH finding week. We did have some amusing stories. One elderly man opened up the door and was quite kind to us. He said, "it is cold out here!" I made a joke about being from AZ and he chuckled. Then he realized who we were and then said, "its cold outside. Stay cold." And shut the door. In an apartment building with quite thin walls we knocked on one door and someone latched the door and then yelled "no one is home!" we could hear them laughing then we heard them tell someone "it is the Jewish people, they want to talk about God." I wanted to leave a Mormon.org card in the door to clear some confusion up, but I felt that was a tad sassy. So I fought the urge. That and I didn't have any on me....

We had a fantastic lesson with Brother L. Friday night he missed our appointment at 7 and then we went back at 8:30 to see if he was home yet. He let us right in and told us how glad he was that he didn't miss us. He took the lessons last summer and then got overwhelmed and backed out of the church a little bit. We have met with him a few times recently and we decided to teach the lessons over again. We taught the Restoration and talked for probably 20 minutes on how this gospel blesses families. After the First Vision we asked him if he believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet (he loves the BoM and D&C). He immediately said yes. We then asked if he believed Joseph Smith restored Christ's church. He was not sure. He told us that he believes what he reads he just isn't sure if he wants to act on it. He still isn't sure if this is the church he needs to be in.  We read Ether 12:6 and Matt. 7: 15-20 (by their fruits ye shall know them) and testified that only by participating and preparation would he know if this was the true church. We then committed him to start preparing for baptism March 22!!!! This was a miracle! Holy cow! The spirit was soooo thick in the room. We told us that he felt the last missionaries didn't care about him and just wanted to baptize him for the sake of it. He said he feels we actually care for him. It was a wonderful experience. One of the best lessons of my mission.

Sorry today is so short, because of the Holiday we email in the homes of members and get less time.

Alma 5:7

The Lord will change our hearts if we let him! The Book of Mormon is a powerful tool that allows the Lord to change our hearts. Brother G. has changed so much in the last 2 months that there is just no way I can deny the effect its pages can have upon our soul. He has gone from a broken man that the missionaries who originally found him almost didn't go back because he thought he was too crazy to a very lucid, loving, and humble man who would do anything to accomplish the will of the Lord. Our daily reading of this Book is truly holding to that rod which will get us back to our father. The very rod that will allow us to overcome all temptation and adversity. The very rod that is the key to happiness!

I love you all!

Elder Damron