Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Tornado Dodging


Hey Mom and Dad-
We got to the library a little later than usual today. There were Tornado warnings all throughout Fort Walton and Destine today so we were stuck in for a while. A tornado warning actually means that there is a for sure chance that a tornado is going to touch down whereas a tornado watch is more just like saying it’s a possibility. It was really crazy this morning, we went outside before we even heard there were supposed to be tornados, and within 30 seconds the temperature dropped like 10 degrees and the clouds were all spinning like crazy above us, so that kinda freaked us out. And then after that, the tornado sirens started going off down at the base, so then we really got freaked out and went inside. I have never seen storms like these in my life, its actually really exciting. So anyways, when the rain stopped, we decided to bike over here to the library, although there is still a tornado watch until 5pm. We got pretty soaked coming over here, so that was fun. Don’t worry though, even if a tornado comes, I wore my helmet so I think ill be ok.
That’s so scary about parker, im glad hes ok now. Thatll be so much fun to go up there and see them in St. George. Dad got a whole week off? Is that for Easter Break? That’s way cool. Easter was pretty fun. We went over to a members home and we got president Summerhays’s permission to watch “The Robe.” Have you ever heard of it? It’s a great movie from the 50’s about one of the Roman soldiers who Crucified Christ, and the whole movie is from his perspective and how he turns his life around and ends up believing in Christ and fights for Christianity. Its really good, you should watch it. I know how Dad likes his old 50’s movies haha. Watching it actually totally made me think of you Dad. So that’s pretty much all we did on Sunday night. A lot of really cool things happened during the day though. We have been having a pretty hard time getting people to come to church lately, so we always do our best to invite our investigators and less-active members to come, but we don’t usually get our hopes up too much. On Sunday at church though, we had two non-members that just showed up out of the blue after saying they weren’t going to be able to make it, and about 4 less-active members showed up as well. So we had some really awesome things happen on Easter.
The rest of the week was really good too. We have been specifically praying this week as a companionship that the Lord would loosen our tongues and speak through us as we try and find people to teach, and it has been really amazing what He has been doing for us. We found ourselves saying things to people while tracting that we haven’t normally said before. We had one specific experience while tracting the other day. We knocked on this door, and this teenage girl answered the door with two guys about our age standing behind her. They had some loud rap music playing in the back round, and they all seemed to be a little hung over haha. So we talked to them for a little bit, and the girl said her parents were out of town and that they had the house to themselves. Elder Gooch asked if we could come in and share a message, and they actually let us in. When we got in the house, one of the guys was like, “ go turn off the music and lets listen to what they have to say.” So they all sat down and Elder Gooch and I started to bear our testimonies of the Restored Gospel and how the Book of Mormon had Changed our lives. The spirit was so strong and they all listened to what we had to say. One of the guys(Chase) seemed really fascinated with everything that was said and had a completely different countenance then when we first opened the door. They all said that we could come back next Saturday and teach them, so that was a really cool experience. We found 6 new investigators to teach this week, and they all seem pretty solid. Its really cool how much of a difference it makes in the work when prayer is involved. Prayer is everything, life would be a waste of time without it.
We have a lesson tonight with Reid, who is one of our more solid investigators, so hopefully that will go well. Were going to watch a 20 minute restoration DVD with him and then go into a little more depth on it for him. This upcoming week should be a good one, we have a few different teaching appointments set up and we have a long list of less-active names to go visit as well.
Thank you so much for that package you sent me. Ive already eaten all the Samoas. I cant believe I have already been out for a year, it has flown by so fast. I have such mixed feelings about how fast it flies by out here. Yeah, its going to be so great to see everyone back home, and get started with the rest of my life and everything, but at the same time, I love it way to much out here to ever leave. This is definitely the high point of my mission right now, I love it so much.
Well, I think I have to go now, the storm outside seemed to die down a bit so I think were going to get out of here before it picks up again. The family is always in my prayers, I love you guys so much! I get to call you in less than a month! I love you Mom! I love you Dad! Love, Josh

No comments: