Ice Storms (Week 12)

The weather this week has been crazy over here in "Okie"land. On Thursday we got hit with an "moderate" ice storm and we were stuck inside for awhile. Once the sleet eased up we weren't able to drive due to the road conditions (they don't plow or salt the roads here), so we set out on foot. On Friday we woke up to 4 inches of snow. It wasn't all that bad though, because it helped us get into people's houses.

 

We got a couple of good investigators this week one of which was J~, we met him when we stopped by to visit one of our other investigators, A~ and her son M~. He is another member of their household and he invited us in because of the cold weather. He was a really awesome guy and was very open to our message. We shared with him a Book of Mormon and explained to him that it was an ancient record of his ancestors from 600 BC to 400 AD. He was really happy when we gave it to him and explained that he has read a lot of books on Christianity. We shared with him the plan of salvation and the lesson went fairly well. He had a lot of input himself on the doctrine that he has picked up from other faiths over the years, but we did our best to show him the restored truth. We hope to teach him again sometime this week.

 

Recently we were able to teach W~ and her sister L~. W~ has been meeting with the missionaries for awhile and just recently has her sister L~ begun to participate. W~ has had a problem with smoking for a long time and so we decided to teach her and L~ the Word of Wisdom together. It was a little awkward at first because when we first came in L~ was smoking. The Word of Wisdom can be a difficult commandment to teach. We explain to W~ and L~ the 5 substances that the Lord doesn't want us to take into our bodies. We taught them that the Lord has commanded us to abstain from these substances because they delude the body and and spirit. The spirit was strong but I could sense contention coming from L~. 

We had an awesome member with us for the lesson, Bro. R, and he bore an excellent testimony on the Lord's commandments and the promised blessings that come when we obey them. L~ wasn't ready to follow the Word of Wisdom so I committed her to pray to know if it is a commandment from God. And her response was, "I don't". Me and my companion were alittle confused by her answer. We got the impression that she doesn't pray. The only way someone can become converted is if they have daily communication to their Father in Heaven. When we meet with her next we will be addressing her concerns with prayer and teaching her its importance.

 

This week's forecast for salvation looks good and the snow is starting to melt. I love the letters I've received from all of you and hearing about what's up. Keep me posted.

 

Sincerely, Elder Watkins