What a Week!

My Dear Family,

Well this week there was some seriously weird stuff that happened to us. We had a good week, a successful week, but some strange stuff. Elder Washburn was kind of sick on Wednesday so he took a 3 hour nap in the afternoon while I read this month's ensign front to back. It was good, but all about marriage which is an interesting topic for a missionary. Anyway, on to the good stuff.

On Thursday we had a lesson with Garret Bingham-lesson 3 (the doctrine of Christ). We did a bunch of object lessons because it is much different teaching a 9 year old than an adult. It was good, but hard for Garret to focus. I'll have to work on my child-teaching skills. It really is a totally different ball park. It was fun though. Garret is a really good kid, and I think he'll grow so much in testimony as he goes to primary and starts reading scriptures and all those things. He is kind of a deep thinker for a 9 year-old, and he will be a great addition to the ward once he gets baptized with his mom Kelly on the 24th. The baptism is set for the 24th at 4:00 pm, and it should be awesome. The only setback this week was that the Binghams didn't come to church on Sunday because they said they got no sleep and took sleeping pills at like 6:00 in the morning so they were dead by the time 1:00 rolled around. They'll be at church this Sunday though, they wouldn't have stayed home unless they were really feeling badly. Kelly is just prepared, and I am grateful to have been in this area to see her progress and receive the gospel. Bishop Ross was talking with Elder Washburn and I this week and he was saying that he was kind of disappointed and regretful that the Binghams had been living within the ward boundaries for the last year and a half, but it wasn't until they moved to the house they're in now that we got in contact with him. But then he said, but from what I understand, a year and a half ago, Kelly wouldn't have been open to the gospel. It is amazing how the Lord works with people, and gives them experiences to prepare them to receive the gospel--that is exactly what happened with Kelly. She went to her in-laws's house, felt of the Spirit there and at church with them, and ever since then she has known that the gospel is what has been missing in her life. It's awesome.

We also had a lesson with Todd Hufford and his wife Trudee. When we met with him, we asked him what he thought about going to church on Sunday, and he said that it was good. We asked him if he went with a question in mind like we asked him to, but he said no he thought about coming up with a good question all week, but he couldn't think of a good one. That kind of bothered me, and I was bold with him and said, "I'm not saying I'm like you, and I'm not saying this is your situation, but if two young guys came into my house claiming to have the fulness of Christ's gospel, claiming that I could be with my wife and child for forever, claiming that there was a man on this earth that speaks directly for, with, and from God, than I would have a couple of questions to ask." Afterwards, I thought to myself OH NO! What did I say?? But he didn't take it badly at all. In fact, with a little more conversation and some great spiritually-led testifying from Elder Washburn, he realized that to come up with questions and to receive answers, he had to do something himself. He came to the realization that instead of just reading the Book of Mormon just as an intellectual read, he needed to read it with the intent of asking if it is true, with the intent of actually getting something out of it. And he realized that is what he needs to do with his search for the truthfulness of this church in all aspects: scripture reading, church attendance, prayer, etc. I think it was a key lesson with him and it was a pivotal moment for his investigation of the gospel. He and Trudee came to Sacrament meeting this week, but again booked it so fast out of there that I didn't get a chance to talk to them after the meeting and invite them to Gospel Essentials class.

So this week we had a lesson set up for Genesis, a potential investigator from our Area Book who we contacted last week and set up the appointment. We got to her house with Bro. Mayne from the ward, and a guy answered named Dustin. We talked to him on the porch for a while, and he said Genesis would be home in a little bit, and he actually invited us in to talk with him. He is living in the same house because they both needed somebody to split rent, and they were acquaintances from back when Dustin was in the AF. So we started talking with him, and he has had a really rough life. We taught lesson 1 with him, and Genesis showed up towards the end. It was a good lesson, and they both agreed to read the Book of Mormon to know if it's true. BUT, we only had one copy, so they said they'd share, and we said we'd bring another copy by the next day. So we did. And we got there and gave Genesis the Book of Mormon on her porch, and she said it would be a while before she could meet again because of work inspections, and we said OK, and that we would give her a call or stop by. Well, she walked inside and we walked to our bikes, and then dogs started barking from inside her house, viscious barks, and then Genesis started screaming. Shrilly screaming, and we ran to the door, and apparently one of the dogs had just latched on to her arm and bit her badly. It didn't draw blood, but it will definitely bruise, and it was crazy. Then one of her other dogs escaped and we chased it down and caught it. It was a really weird experience, and afterwards both Elder Washburn and I felt really weird, and on edge. Needless to say, a weird experience.

Well, it was a good week, we had 10 less actives at church which was awesome. We're hoping to get a lot done this week as well, and we're trucking forward. We also have a dinner appointment with Brian Thomas and his gf Jess. She has, since our blessing to him, shown interest in learning more about the gospel. On wednesday when we eat dinner there, we're going to invite her to hear the lessons. It is going to be great. Cheyenne is doing good, and I'm grateful to be here. I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Logan Bryan