Mission Week 9 - LAS VEGAS

Scripture of the Week

D&C 84:88 - "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand on your left, and my Spirit shall be in you hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up."

Geliefde familie en iedereen,

It was a good week. Not only was I happy, and consumed by the work, but it went fast! Friday I was thinking, "Wow I'm already half-way through the week!" And now I'm thinking, "Where did the rest of the week go?" It's amazing how fast time flies when you're having fun and serving others. I'm not always having fun I guess... Certain people can get pretty hard to deal with. But, at least I'm never bored! I seriously just don't have time to be bored. Another great thing about this week was how often God answered my prayers! One big way He did was by helping us to find people interested in the gospel and get some return appointments. Friday night I was feeling a little frustrated due to the lack of success we have had with finding people for the last week or two. So I prayed and asked God to open the hearts of the people and help us find those who are prepared for us. On Saturday, God answered my prayers. We met like five or more people who are interested and wanted us to come back and share our message with them. It was awesome! God loves us and really does answer our prayers. Most of the time it doesn't always happen so fast, but He always does. Sometimes we just need to work for it and endure with faith.

Besides all of that, it wasn't a super eventful week. We had Zone Training on Tuesday and Zone Conference on Thursday. Some of the coolest things I learned from those two meetings was how to street contact better and how important it is to use the Book of Mormon in lessons. One cool street contacting technique is saying "We're your missionaries." I've already started using this and it really works! I mean we are the people's missionaries. We are here to serve and share the gospel with everyone. I've also started trying to use the Book of Mormon a lot more and that has helped so much. With my teaching, with people's understanding, and it definitely brings the Spirit in a lot more than if I just try explaining everything myself.

Demara and her family and Jack are all getting ready for baptism. Demara and her kisds are set for this week. As long as she can keep from smoking she'll be all clear! I know she can. Her kids are awesome and I know their family will be so blessed after entering the waters of baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.

One of the greatest parts about being a missionary in Vegas is the members. We visited and ate dinner with quite a few families including the Botellos, Gerrards, Moehlers, Tureks, Popes, Jacksons, Walters, and Becks. They're all great. I found my new favorite family last night though... the Martins. They're so cool and actually remind me a lot of my own family! Brother and Sister Martin are both from Alabama. They have five kids, including their 10-year-old Max. He may be younger than me but we actually have a lot in common so it was fun to talk to him. He has an awesome family, he's a middle child, and he loves NFL football! Except he's a Saints fan... Oh well, I forgive him. I'm definitely going to miss watching and following football. It's alright though. Jesus sacrificed and suffered for so much more, for me. The least I can do is give up football for a bit, among other things. Besides being the coolest family ever (after mine), having Southern accents, and making awesome food; what makes the Martins even better is their dog Bennet. He is an 8-month-old Great Dane and is alreaday as big as Kenai and Sascha! They let me say hi to him before I left and he reminded me so much of my puppies. They even took a picture of me with him and sent it to Mom and Dad! Dogs are awesome...

So yeah it was a pretty good week. I'm still waiting on that visa though... It was kind of funny this week because, after I met the Dutch member of our ward last Sunday, I met someone everyday who has been to the Netherlands... God must be teasing me or something. Hopefully He's just letting me know that my visa will be cleared soon. I will be ready when it does, but I know I will miss the members and people that I have met here. Vegas is pretty cool. The Netherlands should be too.

Thank you everyone for your e-mails and prayers and everything. You are all awesome and everybody have a great week!