Hey family,
Things have really started to pick up! We've been teaching a lot compared to my last few months being here. I am so grateful. The trees are changing color and Halloween decorations are out. For some reason people here take Halloween really seriously. They even hang Halloween lights...I've never seen such a thing! I was sad to hear that the Pirates lost this past week. It was fun seeing all the excitement with them making the playoffs. Can I be a Yankees fan and a Pirates fan? Is that allowed?
Barbara, our recent convert, went to the temple to do baptisms for the first time. There was quite a few ward members that went with her, and she had a wonderful time. She did fifteen names! Barbara is 69 years old....when you think about it that's kinda crazy (especially after what happened at her own baptism!). Haha, she took a few family names, but while doing her family history she found that a lot of her family members had already been baptized! For the dead that is. Although Barbara's mom may have actually been baptized while she was living? That seems strange that Barbara never knew about it, but I guess her mom was known for keeping secrets. Anyway, I am thrilled to see her go to the temple so soon after her baptism. She acts like she's been a member all her life :)
We picked up a new investigator this past week named Alexis. She is twenty-two and is a referral from elders in another area. She is agnostic, but she is curious to learn more about our beliefs. As we taught her the first lesson, however, we came to find that she does have a desire to strengthen her faith in God. She said she has been content with her lack of religious belief, but she is open to the idea that her life could be better with it. She has started reading the Book of Mormon, and she plans to come to church next week. Barbara came with us to her lesson, which made it a funny experience. Barbara is so enthusiastic about the gospel that at times she says things she probably shouldn't. For example, she went off about Joseph Smith before we had even talked about prophets. Then later in the lesson she started talking about how she was going to do baptisms at the temple in a couple days. Hahaha, we tried our best to keep the lesson in control. Hopefully Alexis didn't get TOO confused. Barbara's enthusiasm was great though. At the end she said to Alexis, "You know, you just HAVE to come to the church! You will just love the people and everything about it!" Haha, it was cute. I'm sure Barbara's enthusiasm was influential is Alexis' desire to come to church next Sunday.
We had our Bellevue Potluck #2 yesterday! Karen was our only non-member there, the close friend of a family in our area. I would have liked to see more non-members of course, but the fact that she was there made it a success. I wish I knew what else to do to get the members to invite their friends. Come on people! We're trying to make it as easy as possible! Ok, enough venting. Sister Hansen and I taught a lesson about receiving guidance in our lives through the Holy Ghost. At the end we related it to Joseph Smith and the First Vision. I felt confident that our lesson was inspired, however, a couple of the members' comments were...let's just say, off base. Haha what can you do. You take what they say and try to relate it back to the lesson the best you can. So, the potluck didn't go quite as envisioned, but we did our part. We prepared the best we could and tried to get the members to bring their friends. Just gotta let it go :) (I'm working on letting go of things I can't control. It relieves stress) Karen came and had a good time, and that's all that matters! :)
We went tracting the other day, and a lady let us in before we really even said anything. When she first let us in I thought, "Man, she must not realize that we're missionaries," I know, what a sad thought. She was actually interested! She remembered elders coming to her house when she was young, and she was curious to learn more about what we believe. We taught her the Restoration. What a shining moment. We hope to set up another lesson with her and her husband soon. We're seeing little miracles all the time.
I hope all is well! Love you guys!
Love,
Sister Denney
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