15 December 2014

Hey there!

So this week was a very good week for Elder Edwards and me.  Two of the wonderful people we're working with have set dates for baptism.  We feel the dates they have picked are inspired and it is amazing to see them as they work hard towards those dates everyday. I hope that I will be around to see their baptisms--there is nothing more I would rather see than for these two wonderful people to be blessed by the covenant of baptism, but I also feel that my chances of staying here another transfer are slim.   

Everything in Sheridan is going really well, while there are days we struggle to find new people to teach we have been blessed to be able to teach almost everyday--both people who are investigating the church and members we don't see often at church.  We are going to start a 15 step program with one of our church investigators, which is a smoking cessation program.  My companion has seen it work successfully a couple times in the past, so I'm really excited to be able to share it.  

My companion is going to receive his "trunky (going home) papers" soon, most likely in the next week. He only has 2 1/2 transfers left which, right now, I can't even comprehend. He doesn't seem too excited to go home.  If you think about it, the life of a missionary is pretty sweet...money "magically appears" in your account, you don't have to worry about bills, gas and a car are paid for, and sharing the gospel is your only real responsibility.   

One of the people we have been meeting with asked us, "So did you guys ever do anything fun before your missions...like, did you have normal lives?" I responded by saying, "Oh yeah, during the summer my friends and I would find a nice shady tree, and read scriptures all day long..we loved talking about the doctrines of the gospel and how it applied to our lives.  There is nothing better than staying up all night feasting on the words of Christ!"  She looked at me in shock and asked, "REALLY?!?   That sounds horrible!" My companion and I burst out laughing, thoroughly enjoying that we had her going for a few moments.  We confessed that we did plenty of "normal stuff."  Nothing quite like a little missionary fun.  

We went over to a member's house today to give a blessing and he said, "Hey Elder, come try this suit on." So I did and it fit perfectly!  It's a brand new suit and is freaking sweet! I felt so happy and fortunate with his generosity.  It was a custom-made suit looks pretty expensive, so I'm super stoked that he would offer it to me. This family is easily one of the coolest families in the ward.  He said he wore it once and that was it, he said he was too big to fit in it now. I'll wear it on Christmas so you guys can see it when we Skype.

I love you guys a ton! Looking forward to Christmas day!

-Love Elder Erik Rasmussen