Talofa family,
Well let me start out by saying that this past week has been one of the most difficult weeks so far on my mission. The week we had planned and the week it turned out to be were two very, very different things. We had an awesome week planned with tons of appointments with investigators and members to be there too, it turned out to be that we did not have any members there at any of our appointments, which was disappointing but nevertheless we struggled through and we are still diligently moving onward.
Our main progressing investigator, Judy, is moving along very,very well and very quickly, we went over the baptismal interview questions and also the word of wisdom, she committed to follow it and has been significantly reducing her coffee from 3 cups a day down to 1 and I committed her yesterday not to drink any from sacrament to our lesson on tuesday. It is amazing when you have someone that progresses so much every time you teach them, its a noticeable difference from before to after the lesson, its so incredible to see how much joy and light the gospel gives to people and their lives.
The 40 day fast is going strong in this ward, the blessings that we are recieveing from that in conjunction with the fact that the ward is getting to know us and knowing that we are hard workers and we are here to 'help others come unto Christ' and not to mess or play around. The ward is starting to trust us more with referrals and people that they know that want to take the lessons, as of right now we are averaging 4 or 5 referrals recieved every single week, which is more than 4X what I have gotten in the past in former areas. And one of the things that I am so grateful for is the fact that as missionaries we are given more mental strength, to juggle yes juggle around like 30 people that we are working with from investigator families to less actives, part members, and others. And if we didn't have the planners and we did not organize ourselves how we do, we would just get lost trying to teach everyone.
I have been really finding out for myself why the rules are they way they are and that it is true that every blessing from heaven is predicated upon obedience. There is a reason to plan nightly for the next day, there is a reason to pray before every lesson, there is a reason to weekly plan every weekend. And when you find out these reasons and do them for the right reasons you do recieve blessings and peace of mind.
Yesterday during church a good number of people kept asking us if we were both going to stay here for a longer amount of time, and we both replied that yes we are going to since we have 4 weeks left in this area, and we are getting complements that we work very well and the ward is beginning to trust us, we are also learning that when you open up your heart to an area, that you literally starting loving the people, it seems like a very cliche missionary thing to 'love the people' but it is so true. And when you do love the people you can be bold to them, in a loving way and if it is in line and in tune with the gospel and spririt then it is the right thing to do and to help heal the wounds of people. Our fast has been for 2 of the 3 missions of the church, the spreading of the gospel to every person, and for the perfecting of the saints.
Well we both hope for the best for this upcoming week and it will probably happen as we are being diligent and always looking forward, I am thankful for all that you do to help me out. And the support that you give.
And I hope yall the best and that Texas gets some RAIN!
Elder Bolliger
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