So yesterday we had a pretty cool experience! Well the other week we ran into this lady on the street named Rose and we started talking with her; It turns out that she used to be a really active member like 20 years ago but she has been inactive ever since, but she said that we could visit her house.
Well yesterday we shared a message with her and even though she hasn't been to church in a really long time, she hasn't lost her testimony or forgotten about the gospel and she still remembers Ezra Taft Benson and Gordon B. Hinckley and stuff. which is really impressive considering that a lot of members here sometimes forget the name of our living prophet haha.
But after we were done sharing, she told us of some experiences that she had back in the day and she was saying it's funny that she ran into me because she remembered one of the missionaries that she said her family was really close to was also named Elder Larson. I asked her when that was and she was like "probably the late 80s" and then everything clicked because she also had told us that she was from Baluarte, which I remembered was one of dads old areas. So I told her that I am his son and she got way happy and said that she wants to come back to church. So that was a way awesome experience for me and I'm hoping Rose will be able to come back to church again!
As for the rest of the week, we went on splits twice. One was with the APs and I worked with Elder Waldron who is my batch and he actually went to Timpanogas High School and graduated the same year as me. I had never met him before the mission but we have a lot of mutual people that we know and we also had a pretty solid day of work. I also worked in our area with Elder Latu who is also my batch and that was another pretty good day. And Saturday we attended the baptism of the Aurora elders.
Baptism in Aurora
As I said we were planning last week, this last week we focused a little on following up the people that we have OYM'ed and one solid investigator that we have found is named Jeff and his wife is a member. Right now he is receptive to our message but he still seems to have some doubts about Joseph Smith being a true prophet because he says that he prays but doesn't feel like he is being answered. But he was at church yesterday so that was good.
To answer your question Dad, I think an important thing I learned this week or at least was reminded of is that the people that God puts in our paths is for a reason. And it wasn't just the experience with Rose, we met some other people this week that whether they end up accepting our message or not, at least we are the ones who will be there to invite. And I'm so grateful for all the good examples and friends in my life who have gotten me to this point in my life. It's hard to believe that some of my friends are now RMs, others are getting married, and my time as a full-time missionary will soon be coming to an end. But I know I need to make the most of the remaining time that I have because there are still people that the Lord will put in my path that I'm supposed to help. But anyways, that was a kind of long email so I think that's enough for now. Have a good week everyone!